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Youth marketing to teens, tweens & Generation Y (Gen Y) - Daily news & commentary @ Ypulse

Ypulse Interview: Lin Dai, CEO, KiwiboxToday

Before Tom Anderson launched MySpace (and when Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was still in junior high), Kiwibox surfaced on the web as a social network for teens before the buzzword "social network" even existed. Ten years later, Kiwibox is still thriving. CEO Lin Dai explains the site's success and staying power on the web. Lin will be speaking on the panel "How to reach youth on social networks" at the Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup East at BU. Another reason to register today….

Ypulse: Kiwibox has been around since 1999 - why has it lasted so much longer than most early internet startups?

Lin Dai: Kiwibox has managed to survive and exist for so long because of many reasons, most importantly because we have a solid business model. Kiwibox’s unique content meets social networking model was the first of its kind back in 1999, and still is a huge differentiator for us today in the eyes of the end users as well as advertisers. Our longevity can also be attributed to our dedication to the teen demographic. While other major social networks are aggressively expanding

Go See 'Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist'Today

This past Sunday I saw "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist" with my sister and loved it. In the spirit of "Dazed and Confused," we get to spend a whole night out with teenagers — this time in New York City. "Nick & Norah" felt to me like a teen movie for this generation. The lead guy is not some hunky misunderstood jock or "richie" but a lovable indie music nerd driving a Yugo (Michael Cera). Norah is gorgeous, has a normal body type…and she's an "out Jew." I can't remember too many teen movies where the lead actress is Jewish and proud of it. I loved that Nick is in a band with gay teen guys who are three-dimensional, non-stereotypical and fun. Also nice to see an Asian actor in that bunch. Hat tip to David Levithan for his amazing work integrating gay teens into the normal fabric of teen life like driving around all night trying to find out where your favorite band is playing a surprise show.

What I also found refreshing about the film, and I'm no teetotaler, was that both Nick a

Ypulse Essentials: My Handwork Studio, Texting In Church, Gen Y MomsYesterday

Hard times for LC (blame it on the economy - "Hills" star Lauren Conrad's fashion line is "dying on the shelves," according to the New York Post. Plus college students get thrifty with dorm decor) (New York Times, reg. required)

- My Handwork Studio (a kids' needle arts & fashion community - cool!)

- Teens no longer bringing dates to dances (I brought two dates to my senior prom!) (Chicago Tribune)

- Economist and Atlantic (try new "experimental" ad campaigns to reach new [younger] readers) (New York Times, reg. required)

- Young stars falling s

Ypulse Guest Post: 11 Take-Home Points From What Teens WantYesterday

Today's Ypulse Guest Post is from Vanessa Van Petten, entrepreneur and teen author of the parenting book You're Grounded!. Check out her parenting blog, On Teens Today here. Vanessa attended the recent What Teens Want conference in Los Angeles and volunteered to cover the event for Ypulse. If you work in youth media or marketing and would like to pitch an idea for a Ypulse Guest Post, just email me.

11 Take-Home Points From What Teens Want

What teens want seems to constantly be changing, but there are a few things that never change that the speakers at Nielsen’s conference recognized:

- There is always a widening gap
- Teens are always fickle

There were a few overarching themes of the past two days that I want to summarize for Ypulse readers:

1. Purity Rings vs. Vibrating Rings
Becky Ebenkamp of Brandweek started her presentation with a slide from the MTV Music Video Awards. Take home point number one is the idea that this generation is feeling a split of ranks. Yes, there are teens joining pregnancy pacts, going to rainbow parties, and wearing belly

Social Networking As A Cause Of Suicide?Yesterday

After more than a decade with a declining suicide rate among youth, the suicide rate took an upward turn in 2004. There was an 18 percent increase for American youth under age 19 in 2004, though there is some debate about whether the trend continued in 2005. Wondering what's causing this turn of events? Oh, you know, just the usual - depression, war….and Facebook!?

From HealthNews.com's coverage:

While a link between the warnings and suicide risks has not been established, there are other factors that could be contributing to the increase in youth suicides. They include the influence of Internet social networking sites, an increase in suicide among U.S. troops returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan, higher rates of untreated or undiagnosed depression, and access to firearms. Nearly 60 percent of all suicides in the United States are committed with a gun.

Social networking? I can understand how MySpace and Facebook can cause extra angst. All too often, I find myself mindlessly clicking through friends of friends of friends' Facebook profiles when I should be studying for exams, writing research papers or, above all, sleeping, and I feel an extra wave of anxiety.

Anastasia's guess is that they alluding to pro-suicide g