They separate themselves from the pack with targeted content, communications and commerce aimed at this hot and hip segment. There's good reason to ingratiate this segment. Besides being the major decision makers of the future, they have surprisingly large disposable incomes today. According to a Merrill Lynch survey, teens work an average of 15 hours a week. Successful sites leading the charge among this age group provide easy tools for live and asynchronous chat with wide-ranging topics.
Many young teens have trouble relating frailties, fears and experiences to parents.
They look to peers to share hopes, dreams and concerns. The Web allows them to bond in a unique and personal way. Smart content companies jockeying to be the go-to sites for information, interaction and transaction need to consider this segment as more than a peripheral concern. As future leaders, this group will be digitally savvy and exceptionally demanding as consumers. In eight to 10 years, they'll be the core of the Web, so those who risk not serving them now face the possibility of losing them forever.