Explaining GEI's appeal ... to someone under 30 y.o.

[drbubb]

Explaining GEI's appeal ... to someone under 30 y.o.

Why a Facebook user might want to look at this site

==================================

 

Maybe someone here can help me out - I am not a Facebook user.

 

 

I had a chat with some intelligent young people who are regular users of Facebook and Twitter. These seem to be the two most important "pipes" or channels through which they view the world.

 

When I tried to explain to them that GEI was a chatboard, which attracted people who are interested in discussing their investments, and also a wider range of issues, they seemed very confused by that. They common reaction of the two was;

 

+ Chatboards are very old fashioned, and not much worth visiting, although:

+ They got the idea of DrBubb's Diary - they said, "oh, its like a blog then."

 

I tried explaining it was far better and more interesting than a one-way Blog, since "people can introduce their own ideas... and I am not involved in every discussion."

 

"Why should you want that?" - they asked, "Don't you want every discussion under your name and branding?"

Of course not, how would I find out what other people really think?

 

== ==

 

Maybe it is a generational thing, but I think younger people do not really understand the concept of an investor related chatboard.

Can someone help me to figure out how to describe the "appeal" of GEI to younger folk?

 

== ==

Later, I caved in - taking the suggestions here, and created this:

GEI on Facebook: a blank sheet? : http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001689102135

Am I breaking a Rule with this?

[Concrete Jungle]

Younger folk really need to be interested in the issues discussed on GEI, some of us are alas the vast majority of our peers have little / no interest in politics and finance / economics. Perhaps the term chatboard is slightly outdated, forum is probably a better way of describing GEI.

[p314285]

Ain't got a clue.

I wanted to sign up for updates from Dolores Cannon and was told to sign up on her Facebook page but I gave up as I didn't know how to do that.

I asked my kids (17 and 12) but they didn't have a clue either - I was most disappointed but perhaps it's not that bad as I take it as an indication that they don't follow kiddie trends like sheep.

 

[warpig]

I agree with you CJ.

 

Part of the problem is DrBubb seems to have spoken to some dunces (no offence to dunces on here!). Everyone who's attended school in the last 15 years knows what a forum is and what it's used for. Of course you're never going to attract someones attention who isn't interested in the general discussion of the site. I think the real issue is young people don't have any/very much disposable income and so why would they be interested in investing? I think once this depression really gets going it will bring the younger generation in to the fold to discuss issues like politics, as they'll soon start to see they can have an impact on their own future. The younger generation are completely disenfranchised with the world, they don't think their opinion has any value to others.

 

Younger folk really need to be interested in the issues discussed on GEI, some of us are alas the vast majority of our peers have little / no interest in politics and finance / economics. Perhaps the term chatboard is slightly outdated, forum is probably a better way of describing GEI.

[drbubb]

Another young person said:

 

I don't look at chatboards.

 

And I said: You may be missing out on some useful insights and opinions.

 

Response:

"No I won't. If something interesting was being said, then I would find it, because one of my friends or friends of friends would rate those ideas, and point me to it... If no one is pointing me that way, then chances are good, it is not worth viewing."

 

I said:

"But there are ideas and comments which are a bit too complex to fit into a 200-character Twitter window,"

 

This comment was met with apparent amazement, from on party, and general indifference from others.

[Concrete Jungle]

You can take a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

[underling]

I think the real issue is young people don't have any/very much disposable income and so why would they be interested in investing? I think once this depression really gets going it will bring the younger generation in to the fold to discuss issues like politics, as they'll soon start to see they can have an impact on their own future. The younger generation are completely disenfranchised with the world, they don't think their opinion has any value to others.

 

Based on my interaction and conversation with people in the 20-30yr old group I'd be inclined to disagree with your first comment as I know of and have spoken to many who are quietly saving for that 'deposit' on the house they can't yet afford. Across the whole spectrum of this age group the story however may indeed be very different.

 

I'd certainly agree with your other points. One thing I have noticed is that there's even a percentage of this age group that seem to have an inbuilt fear of communication to the point where they're even 'terrified' of answering a telephone! Perhaps this is a symptom of your second point. ?

 

 

 

[littledavesab]

Facebook has a "wall" (amoungst lots n lots of other stuff) on which other people - ie friends can post stuff ranging from jokes to videos to whatever

 

The wall is very similar to the GEI / bulletin board format but probably more user friendly

 

The BB format is good for what we do because you have a separate thread or wall for each conversation / idea

 

Thats the mechanics of it.

 

As to the WHY - either I dont have an answer or I dont have an hour to type one out!

But similar viewpoint to CJ

 

OK a quick why - Farmsville is very popular on Facebook - is a sim city god managerial type game. GEI is a similar idea for frustrated town planners / PM god wannabies

[Bakez]

Just call it a forum

[warpig]

I think we agree, when I meant disposable income I meant extra money beyond food/house/car money.

 

Based on my interaction and conversation with people in the 20-30yr old group I'd be inclined to disagree with your first comment as I know of and have spoken to many who are quietly saving for that 'deposit' on the house they can't yet afford. Across the whole spectrum of this age group the story however may indeed be very different.

 

I'd certainly agree with your other points. One thing I have noticed is that there's even a percentage of this age group that seem to have an inbuilt fear of communication to the point where they're even 'terrified' of answering a telephone! Perhaps this is a symptom of your second point. ?

 

[p314285]

As to the WHY - either I dont have an answer or I dont have an hour to type one out!

But similar viewpoint to CJ

 

OK a quick why - Farmsville is very popular on Facebook - is a sim city god managerial type game. GEI is a similar idea for frustrated town planners / PM god wannabies

 

Yup, Farmsville was why I signed up to Facebook - for the 12 year old, not me, I hasten to add.

[duckwomanloulou]

I think you could have a FB page Dr Bubb - I am a FBer and one of my likes is 'Ludwig von Mises Institute' which has circa 39000 members. One would think that these other members would also be interested in the forum content on GEI. Just my sov's worth.

 

Edited to add today's newsfeed piece:

 

Ron Paul, the Brain of the Tea Party? If only. But, still, this Atlantic piece actually approaches accuracy about economics and libertarianism.

 

The Tea Party’s Brain - Magazine - The Atlantic

www.theatlantic.com

One way to measure the surprising rightward political lurch of the past two years and rise of the Tea Party is to chart the relative position of Ron Paul, who has never flinched from his beliefs. He’s not alone anymore.

[Mabon]

You could start a GEI Fanpage on Facebook etc.

 

Twitter? GEI feeds may be useful.

 

Issue of the day? Ala a Soap Opera. The ongoing trials and tribulatiosn of running an investment forum?

 

Marketing Copy:

 

"Hey Youngnuts do you want to die POOR?

 

Yes? Then don't bother paying any attention to what those idiots at GEI have to say....

 

....And the horse you rode in on. Laterz"

[libspero]

 

 

Hot nubile sexy jugs whipped cream skinny dancer huge cans.

 

Strips custard covered syrup swimming pool go wet and wild plus experimental best friend.

 

 

 

 

Job done

[drbubb]

You could start a GEI Fanpage on Facebook etc.

 

Twitter? GEI feeds may be useful.

Facebook page?

Yeah, I may try that.

 

I tried Twitter: http://twitter.com/DrBubb

 

And I got a few followers there, but from what I could see, it took time, and added nothing whatever to GEI.

 

So I stopped investing time on Tweats.

 

But maybe I don't use it properly, Jonathan Davis, seems to be a more regular user of Twitter

 

Example: http://twitter.com/JonathanDavisWM

 

== ==

 

For Facebook,

I also wonder if it is fair to say: FB is far more popular in the US than the UK.

 

Any comments on the film? Would that help me to understand why people bother with FB?

[Concrete Jungle]

Facebook is very popular pretty much all around the world.

 

http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

 

 

[Mabon]

Facebook page?

Yeah, I may try that.

 

Yes you set up a Fanpage Facebook (or someone does this for you). As opposed to just joining and posting updates. That way fans can join your group and receive your updates.

 

I tried Twitter: http://twitter.com/DrBubb

 

And I got a few followers there, but from what I could see, it took time, and added nothing whatever to GEI.

 

So I stopped investing time on Tweats

 

I feel you have to look at what gives and gets the most bang for your buck.

 

In that, as you've identified, keeping up with the tweeting malarkey takes a lot of time and effort and gets little reward for most 'brands'.

 

I liked Mark Ritson's take on this a few months ago in Marketing Week. The gist of his piece was that Social Media is for People, not Brands (heresy in a lot of modern marketing circles!!).

 

His point was that Peter Andre had more followers on Facebook (I think) than the top 25 companies in the FTSE 100 put together and therefore Social Media was currently a lesser option for Marketers.

 

Or to that effect.

 

You'll probably be best served by doing your regular podcasts and marketing them and doing a channel on YouTube, with which you can reach a lot more people than busting agut updating Twit/Book.

 

== ==

 

For Facebook,

I also wonder if it is fair to say: FB is far more popular in the US than the UK.

 

Certainly Facebook has a potentially greater Marketing 'reach' in the USA than in the UK. From that I mean, it'll be easier for them to continue to monetise content and extract revenue in the Americas than it will in the UK.

 

My daughter's on FB all the time though. So is seemingly half the world. To the achievement of what end though? (I know, that's not the point).

 

You could get GEI on Linked In as an organisation. That would be more useful, but again, not as useful as doing the podcasts regularly and doing a video channel on Youtube.

 

Like I say, it's worth bothering with if you have someone pumping out updates regularly, trying to use it for P.R buzz etc, but these things mostly fail as peopleusing FB and Twitter etc are looking for human experience and connection, not brand updates etc.

 

Brands and Biz's are probably better using other forms of Multi-Channel Marketing. Mobile Apps can be very useful for Fast-Moving-Consumer-Goods and Retail type companies.

 

? GEI Options Trading on the go App?

 

Good Luck.

 

PS I love Libspero's take on things. I'd sign up for some of that

[romans holiday]

Another young person said:

 

I don't look at chatboards.

 

And I said: You may be missing out on some useful insights and opinions.

 

Response:

"No I won't. If something interesting was being said, then I would find it, because one of my friends or friends of friends would rate those ideas, and point me to it... If no one is pointing me that way, then chances are good, it is not worth viewing."

 

I said:

"But there are ideas and comments which are a bit too complex to fit into a 200-character Twitter window,"

 

This comment was met with apparent amazement, from on party, and general indifference from others.

This is the problem with the face book generation [500million and growing...soon to be a billion].

 

It's all about surveillance. Bentham had the idea of a panoptican, where prisoners would be controlled at all times by a central viewing platform.... they would always feel under surveillance. Orwell had the idea of a flat screen in every room putting the occupants under surveillance. The internet is an interesting twist on this theme; power is decentralized where everyone now surveys [the thoughts of] everyone else. It is difficult now for individuals to develop their own consciousness as they are all caught up in the world wide.......web.

[drbubb]

His point was that Peter Andre had more followers on Facebook (I think) than the top 25 companies in the FTSE 100 put together ...

Hmm.

 

I think that points out the uselessness of Facebook.

 

What does Peter Andre's facebook page do for him,

And what possible value of reading a page about Peter Andre deliver to anyone?

 

Much of the time spent on Facebook sounds like a waste to me, and a huge time sink, draining energy away from the productive economy.

 

Like gaming, or gambling, this activity sound to me like it is purely for amusement. If someone hit a switch, and turned it off,

would anyone really suffer? It is the 2010 equivalent of sitting in front of "the idiot box" watching gameshows.

[jerpy]

.

 

Much of the time spent on Facebook sounds like a waste to me, and a huge time sink, draining energy away from the productive economy.

 

Bubb it all depends on what you use facebook for. All the next generation of my clan entering teens, odd ones slightly older are facebookers. They use it as a social networking site. An whole tribe split up across 3 continents can go online and have a laugh together at the same time if they choose to. They chat music, gigs, dates, sports and what you would call trivia.

 

Then there are others i know that use it because they live out of area; as it helps them keep in touch and tell all their friends what they are up to, who then share this with the tezzer the tea leaf, bil the law, tommy the tax man etc BARKING MAD!! Do you realise how many people have lost jobs throwing a sickie and putting down what a pi$$ up they had been to the night before?! Facebook is dangerous for some, because so many using it have a total lack of common sense or braincells.

 

Not saying this represents the majority, however there is a whole load of cringeworthy material on facebook.

[00timebandit00]

DrBubb,

 

As mentioned by OP you could set up a fan page on FB. The whole benefit of getting lots of followers is that you can monetize them later, or you can pull people from FB to here. Or you could pay for ads (the advantage is that the psychodemographic targeting that FB allows is freakin tight AND it is still cheap to run ads there).

 

*Success notes* Figure out the demographic you want to target, DO NOT attempt to target those you mentioned above. You mentioned their age but that is it. You need to know education levels, marridge status, type of work, age, ethnicity, do they enjoy fishing etc etc. These are who you spend time on and you know who they are when you know the psycho demographics of those already here. Like a tribe of similar people :ph34r:find more of the same tribe.

 

MY EXAMPLE USING PAID FB AD's:

 

I have a place I want to rent out. I want someone over 30, but clearly I cannot discriminate through advertising....but wait a sec! Here is FB that allows me to select to whom I show the ad. Wanting a "good" tennant who is likely to pay me, not wreck the place I go to FB ads and select

 

- age 30 or above,

- no children

- university educated

- then I geo target to the location my rental is in. FB will only show the ad to people who meet all these criteria, but possibly the best part is that I don't pay per view, I pay if someone clicks. This is important because if you want someone to click you write something that makes them want to click....but if you don't (eg you are a local bar and have nothing to offer on the internet...or you just want to become familiar) you write information that is unlikely to lead to a click. For $25 bucks you could easily have weeded out people that you didn't want to rent your place anyway saving time and money. (umm, guys that is a good business idea!....soz, off topic again...)

 

For getting followers you can use paid advertising in much the same way - a paid ad asking them to join your page with an incentive to get them to do so. Depends on what your plan is long term as there isn't much point going all out like this just for the sake of doing it huh. Another idea - could run a contest for those who join (can go on for months) and write the best response to one of your posts.

 

 

 

Avoid Twitter - I have a Twitter account with a few thousand followers. Of those I estimate only 1K are legit followers, meaning the others are attempting to make money with Twitter which sadly is the why it isn't worth my time. A well known Internet Marketer quit Twitter and left his 25K followers early this year as the response rate is low. (80% spammers/make money with tweets/mlm, 10% want to kiss/marry Justin Bieber, and 10% normal folks) You may be interested to know how I build my followers - I used a wordpress plugin called "related tweets" that automatically tweeted stuff related to the subjects I selected from my WP blog, and then it autofollowed those with whom it appeared I had a common interest. About 15 mins work in setting up in total (aside from all the WP set up). Of course you can make $ with Twitter, but it is waning and you need software help (big learning curve, not worth the effort for someone like you IMO).

[Questiondog]

my thought: Facebook is banned in most offices, employers don't like people 'wasting their time'...

 

A complementary facebook page could work though, extra work maintaining two sites...

 

[Questiondog]

as to explaining GEI's appeal to people under 30, I think thats harder.

 

I'm 34. I've been following here and previously HPC for long time. I think I fist found HPC in about 2004. something like that.

 

But my friends, they're just not interested. They just can't see how this kind of discussion is relevant to their daily lives. I worked for the old Fleming Family Private Bank before it got bought out by Chase years ago. that training gave me an insight and a hook into this kind of environment. My friends, they have no hook. the Stock market is someting that happens to other people. Pensions, they don't get it. Gold? whenever I mention it, which isn't that often their eye's glaze over and they start talking about movies or cricket or whatever.

 

Just before the crash i sent an e-mail to all of them warning about Northern Rock and Halifax, out of 20 people only 1 person replied, and he only to say was it sensible to keep his inheritance with a single bank (Halifax). I advised to diversify.

 

They need a hook, but what? i'm not sure.

 

maybe i should force them all to watch Wall Street and Trading Places.. but I don't think that would work.

 

different lifestyles i guess.

 

 

 

 

edit: clarity. it's early

[savetheclaypigeon]

I'm one of those mythical, elusive under 30's that reads GEI on a regular basis

 

For what it's worth, I wouldn't be scared of calling this a forum. All my friends visit forums, in line with their specific interests, on a regular basis.

 

The trick is to get them interested in investing and preparing for their future. To be fair most acknowledge the need to do "something about a pension", but not to the extent that they will research it too deeply and perhaps take ideas from off the beaten track. The few that are have been pointed gently in this direction.

 

Facebook, although very popular and universally subscribed to, is not really seen as an information source, at least in my social group. It's merely a vehicle for taking the piss out my mates! Trite and a way to kill 5 mins. Nothing more.

 

I just don't see how having a Facebook page will attract people. You look for the Facebook page to get updates about something you are already interested in.

 

Maybe it's just a case of playing the long game and waiting for the mountain to come to Mohammed.

 

You have built it Bubb, now let them come

[ziknik]

DrBubb,

 

You are likely to switch off younger people the second you try to tell them anything. This is not because you’re handing out poor advice/opinion. It’s because you are older and they see you as boring and/or controlling.

 

[i’m no saying this to be unkind] I suspect the people you spoke to were fully aware of the purpose of forums and were asking you silly questions so they would have enough material to parody you the second your back was turned. I say this because that is exactly what I do when someone tries to tell me anything.

 

If you want to attract younger people, you need to sow the GEI seed in their heads. They need to think they found this place by themselves and then they will tell their friends about it. If you try to ram home the GEI message, you will lose them. Sow the seed and watch it grow.

 

I don’t know a lot about Twitter and Facebook, but they sound like good ways for you to attract a younger audience. Join some groups and keep all your material short and snappy. Attack Mervyn King, Attack David Cameron etc. Promote Fred Harrison (in a short paragraph), Marc Faber etc

 

Actually, Marc Faber is a really good example. He’s keeps if short, snappy, he’s easy to understand, he makes clear predictions, he puts his hands up when he is wrong, he is modest when he is right and he attacks people he doesn’t like (Bernanke, Obahma).

 

It sounds like I have a strategy; I might sign up on that face book myself.