Since I've been traveling, I've been meeting with Ypulse readers as well as speaking to parents. I stopped in at Cone in Boston, Justine Magazine in Memphis and spoke at a CNN editorial board meeting and to the Cartoon Network team here in Atlanta. A few themes have emerged for me through these conversations, which I will attempt to synthesize in this post.

Stop forcing people to board the mothership. It always seems like monetization is competing with user experience. Brands (both media companies and consumer brands) that force consumers to have to go to their own site for news, video, community, etc. are creating "a hassle" for users. I especially feel this way about video -- it bums me out that the major content companies couldn't make peace with YouTube and find some way to keep their video on the site. Consumers don't want to go to 10 different websites to watch video.

Teens only have so much time between school, activities, homework, TV, family life, etc. We know that right now, the majority of them are spending the bulk of their time online socializing on sites like Facebook or MySpace. Both of these sites are now open to developers. If you can create a compelling application that goes viral on one of these sites, you are not only offering them a value add for their profile, but they may choose to click back to the mothership. I'm not saying don't build your own cool hub, but you have to have a strategy that makes the best of what you have portable. For example, despite this AdAge.com story arguing that teen magazine sites can't compete with the large social networks (duh -- they may nibble at some of that traffic but they're niche so they're not going to directly compete), CondeNet's new Facebook shopping widget has gone viral and is doing extremely well.

Leverage educational settings for educational content. This is for the non-profits, social marketers and news organizations out there -- we've read the studies (many reported here) that this generation is not that into news. We've also heard that most teens don't like to play educational games in their spare time (why would they, when they can be playing Halo?). For organizations that are trying to reach teens with serious content, you should create educational games and encourage participation in the news with user generated content -- but you should also partner with schools and after school programs where teens are focused on learning in general. They might not want to play your educational game when it competes with Halo 3, but if they have to choose between listening to a teacher lecture at the blackboard and learning through gaming, the choice is obvious.

Make news and information meaningful to them. Part of the reason most teens may not be that into news is because they are very, very into themselves. Being a teenager is all about figuring out who YOU are -- they are incredibly self focused and narcissistic. It's a natural part of growing up. But as soon as the stories directly affect them personally (the draft or the immigration bill), they become very interested and engaged. I hope CNN makes a really cool Facebook application where users can personalize their headlines and video and have it right there in their profiles.

Create easy guided tours for every tween site out there. I was asked what more kids/tween sites could do for parents. Design a super easy tour so they understand exactly how your site works and why it's safe. Encourage them to set limits on how long their kids are on your site (you may want them there forever, but it shows parents you understand their concerns about too much screen time). Show them how and where your site is educational. As much as an 8-year-old might be able to show their parent how the site works (while getting distracted, starting to play the games or just changing the subject a whole lot), you can (and should) do it better.

Instead of trying to create the next big thing for them... Create spaces where they could possibly come up with the next big thing for everyone. The amazing thing about this generation is how they take what give them and completely reinvent it or hack it or "fix" it so it meets their needs. Think about how teens created several of the MySpace layout or quiz sites. This sprang from their need to decorate their virtual space. By opening yourself up and letting them remake whatever you give them, you might just stumble upon the next big thing. Example: Virgin Mobile just launched an online studio for its customers to make their own ringtones and wallpaper.

Print magazines might survive -- they just may all be independent. Justine Magazine is at the top of a non-descript Memphis office building. Compared to a Hearst of Conde Nast publication, they are a small operation. They are also free of the huge pressure advertisers put on large commercial magazines (they can even touch up the ads to make them a bit less risque). So while the whole world doesn't know about their magazine, they may be able to survive and even thrive with slightly higher subscription prices, ancillary products, etc.

Posted by anastasia