What do young people REALLY want from social media?!

[This is the first post from the brandgym's social media special advisor, my nephew Teymour Bourial. Being in his late teens, he has grown up living, breathing and using social media. He runs a very cool Tumblr site called Funky Disco Please!, that I recommend you check out. 

So, here's his first post, in repsonse to my question: "What do young people REALLY want from social media?"]

Young people are a key audience when it comes to social media. People approaching their
20's now are the first generation to have spent their teenage years fully immersed in and
actively using social media. This is reflected in the average age of active social media users
being skewed younger at 23, versus the average age of social media users in general being
35, according to Google Ad Planner. Clearly, if you are looking to connect with a young
audience, social media is a key communication channel. But what do young people really
want from social media?

Young people want something for nothing

When following a brand on any social media, young people feel like they are doing
something a little bit special, something that most people do not do. They expect in return exclusive deals and special offers. Remember, this is the generation who have grown up streaming music and video, not paying for it.

For example, "Dell Outlet” on Twitter shares links that redirect you to special, time-limited offers. Not only does it give the brand good exposure on social media, with 1.5million followers, it also helps them to make money out of this process, generating an estimated $2 million a year in revenue. Not huge in the big scheme of things, but more then enough to cover the cost of a team to create the content.