Ypulse Guest Post: Meet The Slash/Slash Generation

Today’s Ypulse Guest Post is from Alexandra Suhner. Alexandra is a London-based trend forecaster, marketing consultant and creative director. She also happens to be Canadian and a graduate of St. Martins College of Art & Design in London. If you have an idea for a Ypulse Guest Post (and work in youth media or marketing), send me an email!

Meet The Slash/Slash Generation

The Future Laboratory announced their newest consumer profile last week at the semi-annual Trend Briefing presentation in London. This year it is all about the Slash/Slash Generation. At first it sounded like an odd evolution of the nu-raver, which scared me, but in fact, the Slash/Slash Generation is the group of internet-savvy youths using their image and social-networking reach to get involved in countless projects and who specialize in basically a little bit of everything.

This is about the youth who aren’t dedicated to one career path, instead, they are Jacks of many trades. For example, someone who ten years ago may have simply considered themselves a musician would know call themselves a musician/DJ/promoter/graphic designer/fashion designer/retailer/film maker (see now where the Slash/Slash comes from?) because they not only play in a band but also create their own videos and website, sell their own merchandise online, and promote their own club nights.

A strong image, good business savvy, excellent networking skills, a good handle of the digital tools, and never-ending motivation all play a strong role in the micro-empires they build around themselves, and they rebel against traditional business structures and don’t depend on mainstream promotion to gain fame.

“Coming of (work) age in the post-digital era, they are the result of the democratization of the creative industries where anyone, with the right application and drive, can make it.” -The Future Laboratory, Trend Briefing Dossier, Spring & Summer 2008

Fourteen percent of 18-24-year-old Slash/Slash youths have already made money through social networking (The Future Laboratory, Trend Briefing Dossier, Spring & Summer 2008), and these youths favor products endorsed by their peers rather than being swayed by traditional marketing and advertising. Celebrity culture is not favored by this group, instead, they are their own celebrities. Rather than struggle to enter a competitive field, the Slash/Slash Generation would prefer to make their own video/music/clothes in their bedroom and pilot to their 15,000 Myspace friends. This group don’t separate work and life, but they believe in hard work and are financially ambitious. Turn over is quick for them, fashion is fast, and a sense of community is vital. These business-minded youths are simply taking a slightly different route to becoming millionaires.

One of the speakers at the conference, representing the Slash/Slash Genertation was Gabe Shalom (featured in the photo), a video artist/director/editor/sound designer/web and graphic designer/magazine editor/blogger/lecturer/electronic musician/laptop DJ/beatboxer born in the US but based in Germany. He commented that when the generation who grew up with the internet come of age, there will be serious changes in how digital media and the World Wide Web are being used. This won’t be for at least another 10 years, he said, but considering how much we use the internet now, imagine how it will change when the world is being run with people who have been using it their whole lives. A scary thought for those of us who are still coming to terms with podcasts.