Too many people treat young adults as children. Low expectations are set for them along with limited or low levels of expected responsibility for their actions.
"The name is certainly problematic with a condescending feel that could alienate the young people its trying to attract."
The name is condescending. I see Jr after a name and I think of Nickelodeon Jr that is aimed at 5 year olds and under. As is the notion you need to dumb down the content for 20 some things to understand or be interested in. 20 somethings, especially those in college, should be thirsting for knowledge about the adult world they are a part of.
"a price point calibrated to a just-starting-out-in-life budget." Says to a young adult we do not expect you to succeed so we are lowering the cost for you.
Personally I am sick of 20 somethings being treated like kids. You are adults. Act like it.
No wonder Millennials are the most stressed generation. A vast majority of them have no coping skills because they have been coddled since birth.
http://topnews.us/content/253164-young-adults-face-highest-stress-levels-america-reveals-study
New York Times wants to appeal to the millennial generation (just like everyone else for that matter). The company is growing its revenue from online subscribers but is struggling to grow its advertising revenue and new Times CEO Mark Thompson is looking to innovate. So the company came up with this idea: New York Times Junior. A digital version of the newspaper that’s targeted for “college students and twenty-somethings.”
A Times source says NYT Junior would be targeted not at very young readers but at college students and twenty-somethings. The idea would be to offer them a limited-content version at a price point calibrated to a just-starting-out-in-life budget.
While it doesn’t seem like it will be a completely new product the Times is rolling out (just a new way to attract online subscribers), the idea isn’t getting a good social media reception. First it got the Gawker treatment, “All trend pieces all the time?” Then tweets like:
this is insulting RT @tjfalk Hmmm. New York Times Junior: for “college students and twenty-somethings” ow.ly/hCcCS
— Josh Gunter (@jmgunter) February 11, 2013
NYT Junior? Name #fail …Coming Soon: A Juniors’ Edition of The New York Times? - Forbes onforb.es/YGYfpp
— Alex Fuentes (@alexfuentes) February 8, 2013
NO. Just NO. New York Times Junior: All Trend Pieces All The Time? - @gawker gawker.com/5983141/new-yo…
— Marianne D (@marianne_ct) February 11, 2013
The name is certainly problematic with a condescending feel that could alienate the young people its trying to attract. But choosing stories that appeal to millennials might also be a flawed idea. As Paid Content points out: “I assume college students and recent grads care most about the sections of the paper that older people also care most about.” Plus, “much of the coverage that some NYT exec might think is most aimed at a younger audience could be, in fact, the same stuff that is most easily found for free all over the internet.”
The initial feedback is negative, but this is actually a really good thing for the Times. Twitter, and, really, the Internet, has become a valuable way for businesses to test ideas with the general (social media-using) public. Companies can get quick reactions to new ideas, bad and good, without putting many more resources into a bad idea or at least rethinking the idea if it gets a bad reception.
Business innovation doesn’t happen without first having a lot of bad ideas. Fortunately, for New York Times and others, there’s social media to scrutinize those ideas before they hit the market, not after. If they’re actually using the free feedback to their advantage is another question.
Photo: Flickr/jfingas
