Who Do Y Women Trust?

PopSugar has released a study called “Why Y Women,” which explores the way that the women of Generation Y interact with media and respond to advertising. One of the study’s key findings is that the women of Gen Y (between the ages of 18 and 34) are skeptical of the advertising constantly being flung at us and seek out authentic sources of brand opinion in order to judge what material is (or is not) worth our attention.

As my daily Gmail inbox piles up with notices from my favorite online shopping haunts, news resources, cooking blogs and nightlife guides, I can relate to the feeling of being overwhelmed by the amount of information available to me…I’m sure we all can. What is interesting about Generation Y however, is what we consider a “reliable source” of information. How is Generation Y deciding what messages to take home with us at the end of the day?

PopSugar’s study found that while Gen X and Baby Boomers sought brand approval from so-called “experts,” Gen Y women report relying on our peers much more heavily when judging a brand’s authenticity. For the first time, however, this peer group not only includes “real-life” friends and co-workers, but also online friends, blog writers, and anonymous reviewers.

Personally, I find that my Twitter feed serves as a great medium through which to receive reviews and suggestions that come from what I consider to be “reliable sources.” My Twitter feed provides a one-stop location to glean daily updates on news, products and events via tweets from friends, as well as brands, news Web sites and blogs that I have chosen to follow (thereby indicating my faith in these outlets as valued sources of information) . This ability to sift through clutter and deliver “trusted” information is a quality that Twitter can really capitalize on as the world of Web 2.0 continues to expand indefinitely.

-Kristin