Issue 15, vol. 2 - October 2006

In a recent US study by comScore Media Metrix, a leading digital media measurement firm, it was discovered that more than half of MySpace visitors are now aged 35 or older. The study cited a major demographic composition shift that is seeing adults flock to MySpace due to the media spotlight around the social networking site over the last year, with many youth 12-34 looking for alternatives to what is quickly becoming an adult community.

The most significant shift has occurred among teens 12-17 who accounted for 24.7 percent of the MySpace audience in August 2005, but today represent only 11.9 percent of the site's total audience. A smaller, but similar shift, is evident among 18-24 year olds as well.

The MySpace media hype over the last year has been tremendous, and although all that talk has finally gotten the attention of Canadian marketers and encouraged them to consider social networking sites in their marketing plans (finally!) -- it's driving the youth market away at the same time. You can bet that myspace.com/teenygal will cancel her account the moment she stumbles on myspace.com/momsite.

Let there be no mistake, MySpace is still one of the most popular Web sites for teens and young adults. A recent Youthography study found that 41% of 9-29 year old Canadians who do social networking had a MySpace account. But, what's interesting is that it's not the number one most popular social networking site in Canada anymore, as most marketers are led to believe. And clearly, their numbers are slipping.

Ahead of MySpace is MSN Windows Live Spaces with 57% of Canadian youth social networker's on board. What's incredible about this is that Live Spaces only launched in August of this year. In less than three months this new social networking site has surpassed MySpace as the place to be among Canadian youth (thank you MSN and Hotmail, who were smart enough to generate pages automatically for their members).

Where else are they going?

Hi5 (hi5networks.com) is an international youth social networking site that has 40% of Canadian youth who social network holding registered accounts, just behind MySpace's 41%. We expect to see Hi5 move into the number two position in Canada at any moment. With more than 50 million people with accounts worldwide and over 18 million unique users per month, Hi5 is a contender is this space.

Classmates, WAYN, Piczo, Nexopia and Friendster are all in the running among others, but one we feel deserves to be highlighted is Facebook. On September 26, Facebook removed student-only restrictions and is growing rapidly as one of the coolest, and slickest, options available. Facebook started as a social networking site designed just for schools so that you could interact with people within your school without having to do it as public Web page. High Schools were soon added after Colleges and Universities and many were looking to add non-student friends to their network. The big difference between Facebook and the other sites we've noted here is that they don't create public Web pages, even if you want one. A Facebook profile is only open to the Facebook friends that you invite and many youth are attracted to the sense-of-security and ease-of-use of this site.

So, what does all this mean for Canadian youth marketers?

First off, it means that MySpace probably isn't the answer. Not that creating a MySpace page for your brand isn't a bad thing, just that it shouldn't be considered the end-all-and-be-all of your "innovative youth Web strategy". If your brand is going to use social networking Web sites, you'll need to look beyond MySpace and consider Hi5, Live Spaces and others as a part of your strategy. When you consider the popularity of YouTube, the Googlopoly, and MSN and Yahoo, there's a lot of ground to cover for Canadian youth brands online. But don't be dismayed. If anything, this speaks to the power of content, and the necessity for great creative. The right Webisode, user generated content, or inspired advertising can spark a movement online... and it can do it quickly. Great creative, combined with an in-depth and multi-channel online viral campaign, can make a significant impact and speak to youth in the language they speak: online social networking.

Want to find out how? Email Jeff Roach at jeff@youthography.com.