
Living in South Korea, where cellphone penetration is nearly 100%, the culture of electronic communication is astonishing. It’s normal to see 60 year old women texting effortlessly or 9 year olds using their phones to take pictures and videos of anything they find remotely amusing.
This culture of hyper-connectedness has made me keenly aware of communication habits, both my own and of others. My cellphone usage has sharply increased during my time here, despite having a smaller circle of friends than back home.
Gen Y Never Eats Alone
I realized that with all the avenues of communication available, I’m never, ever really alone. If I’m having lunch by myself, I’ve noticed that I’ll send text messages to people in order to relieve the silence. If I’m bored on the subway, I’ll call or text someone.
If I’m working on something on my laptop — at least one IM program will be open. Sometimes I’ll sign on and passively leave it in the background. I’ll happily oblige if someone engages me in conversation, but I’m content with simply being available.
In my unscientific poll of some colleagues, it’s clear that I’m not alone in doing this. Viewing it objectively, it looks like a strange behaviour. What’s the point of all this seemingly needless connectivity?
The Facebook High
This always-on mindset could be indicative of a generation with low self-esteem. I still remember the days before ubiquitous cellphones, email, IMs and social networking. If you wanted to get in touch with a friend, you’d have to hope they were near a landline or you would go to their house. If you couldn’t connect with them…no fuss, no big deal.
But now that we can connect with our friends (and expect to hear a response anywhere within 24 seconds to 24 hours), we’ve tied our ability to connect into our self-identity. Because we are used to being surrounded by people — from our helicopter parents to our always-available peers — we have become dependent on their communication and addicted to their contact. Are we a generation that self-medicates its emotional issues by sending out texts?
Our personalities are now inextricably linked to our cellphones and Facebook walls. Notification of a new text or message can trigger a dose of excitement, a microsecond-high that makes you think ooh, what could this be? That’s why some people (affectionately known as “Facebook whores”) are so addicted to Facebook. It’s constant reinforcement that says yes, I have friends, and yes, I have social value.
The desire to be liked is certainly not unique to Gen Y. But this is the first generation where you can actually measure your popularity. Just count the text messages in your phone and see how many Facebook friends you have.

During these holidays, my Facebook news feed has transformed into a litany of endless photo albums. There are pictures of parties, beach vacations, families and ugly sweater parties. I see my friends with changed haircuts, doing the same old antics with new (or noticeably absent) significant others.
Millennials have unprecedented access to product information. Looking for the scoop about a digital camera? Type the brand and model into Google and you’ll be inundated with blogs and reviews. Buying a first car? Go to one of countless auto-enthusiast message boards and you’ll have enough reading material to last you for weeks.
Think Gen X and Boomers are too close to their kids? Just wait til we’re moms and dads.






Thinking back to my experience working on the sales floor of a consumer electronics retailer, I had the opportunity to see firsthand the effects of marketing and advertising. As a Marketing student, this was extremely exciting. Being exposed to consumer behaviour this close made me feel a bit like Jane Goodall, but with much much smarter gorillas who happened to have money.
I can’t recall the last time I went out of my way to watch boxing. The only people I know who are into boxing are people in my parents’ generation, or boxers themselves. Is boxing down for the count?
By now, everyone knows that you should set your privacy settings on Facebook. No sense in ending up like another
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Hi, I'm David Fallarme and I'm a digital marketer and blogger. I'm currently based in Beijing.