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Google is only a few months older than I am, meaning I have never lived in a world where I couldn’t search up anything I could imagine. I remember VHS tapes and when the first iPhone was released. While I grew up addicted to watching Disney movies and YouTube videos, I still was sent to play outside and run around with the dog and my brother. Today’s children are glued to iPads and phones that are more powerful than any device I grew up with. However, now it is starting to swing back to when I was younger, parents are told to limit their child’s screen time and get them to go exercise. How does this affect the way we send out messages and promotions? Let me give a glimpse into my technology addiction.
I became proficient at social media at a young age, since it was one of the best ways to communicate with my friends after school. By 14-years-old we all had cellphones and could be on social media well past our bedtimes. I started losing sleep because all I wanted to do was watch YouTube or text my friends. Technology has helped me a lot with schoolwork, but often I worry about the next generation that is even more addicted than I am. 14-years-old is now considered old to get a cellphone, and flip phones that only allow you to text are a thing of the past. When kids get their first cellphone it is going to be a smartphone, and they are going to be using it as often as they can.
Technology is not going away anytime soon, but the use of screens might be. Podcasts are the latest thing. They allow listeners to focus on another task while listening, or use them to go to sleep like I do. My dad got me into podcasts a few years ago when he switched over from audiobooks on his commute to podcasts. The advantage for the PR industry is that they are easy to make, and starting a podcast for your company will help you reach even more people. With the short attention span people have nowadays, it is helpful to put your message into audio so that they do not lose focus. Though some podcasts do still use video allowing the visual component to stay relevant. Many podcasts are sponsored by companies, and by sponsoring one it is easy to get your target audience since there is such a large variety of subjects covered by podcasts. Advertisements in podcasts have led me to some of my favorite products that I now use everyday, like my SleepPhones.
Technology will forever be changing the world, and we must change with it. Audio is going to be the future, since it will allow people to limit screen time but still get all the information they would be getting by reading the news or watching a TED Talk. PR practitioners need to start the switch now so that when the world switches back to audio, we are already masters at it.