New surveys reported in Media Post Publications and one from Auto Pacific provide a snapshot of where Internet communications appear to be heading. Erik Sass reports in The Social Graf that new findings by Forrester Research, suggest that “while the number of people using social media still may be growing the number of people who are actually creating original content has leveled off in the last few years.” 
Forrester classifies only 23% of the U.S. online audience as online creators. The research notes that 15 of the top 20 most-watched videos on You Tube are professionally produced. Sass opines that contrary to early expectations for a flood of user-generated content, the actual number of people who want to be online creators is limited, noting that “the vast majority of blogs are abandoned after a few updates, while 90% of Twitter users are ‘lurkers’ who just like to read what other people post.”
Karlene Lukovitz, reports in Marketing Daily that Gen Y consumers (age 18 to 34) are less likely than consumers age 35 and older to base their actual purchasing decisions on issues they deem important. Instead, according to research by Resonate Networks, they are most likely to buy products that reflect and convey their personal achievement and success to others. According to a national Gen Y survey by Auto Pacific, that means they favor Toyota, Honda, Ford, Chevrolet, Nissan, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Kia, Dodge and Subaru in that order, with newcomers Hyundai and Kia, replacing Mazda and Jeep.
For an even younger generation, participants in Media Magazine’s “Future of Media Forum” focused, for a period according to Joe Mandese, writing for Media Daily, “on the addictive nature with which children consume media, and increasingly, pay for it via premium online distribution platforms.” Mandese reports, the media honchos attending the Forum “all seemed to agree that Millennials do differ from previous generations in that they expect to get their media content on-demand, when and where they want it, and that in many cases, they would pay for it.”
Speaking of paid content, The London Times has lost 4 million readers since going behind a paywall but it is making more money from subscriptions than it did from online advertising when it was free.
It’s not surprising that the younger set listed Ford, Chevy, and Dodge, as among their brand favorites
When I am road testing Camaros, Challengers, and Mustangs, the number of youg people who come up and ask questions about this trio is sometimes overwhelming. Many young guys (and some gals) who pump gas at service stations(New Jersey won’t let us pump our own)focus in on what I am driving and want to know all about the cars and give me their individual opinions.
Even when driving slow down city street, young folks wave and give a thumbs up to the trio. Even some older drivers will stop me and tell me about Mustangs, Camaros, and Challengers that they have owned.
I am also not surprised by Hyundai and Kia making the list. As an autio writer, I have seen them climb the mountain, and they are going to climb even higher,
That Toyota is still at the top of the heap, despite all the battering the company has taken the past two years, is a tribute to the loyal customer base that they have built up primarily due to quality. I have road tested just about every Toyota, Lexus, and Scion model, and have never experienced any of the problems reported in the mass media.
. As an automotive journalist, I have always been impressed by Toyota’s willingness to share infornation with the press as well answer our tough questions. As a journalist for a small newspaper, Toyota has always treated me with respect and given me the information I needed
That contrasts with Honda, which makes great cars, but, who, in recent years has snubbed smaller newspapers.
the numbers seems interesting and makes sense. a lot of read Glenn and thanks for sharing.