How to Communicate with Generation Y on Online Platforms?

Abstract

Today the vast majority of the students are the members of Generation Y, people born between 1980 and 1994. They grew up with online communication in their lives, and a library that would like to address them should take this into consideration. This generation has a “now and immediately” attitude, and they try to avoid to move from the screen. The Internet is their primary source of information, which means not only the online search engines, but also the online social media. In Hungary the most popular social media websites where libraries can be present are Facebook and Instagram. If we, as a university library want young people to become aware of us, it’s very important for us to use these platforms, too. Each platform has its own characteristics, which are worth paying attention to when creating the profile of the library. Different contents should be published on different social sites as different groups of users use them. Generally speaking, if we want to connect to the Y generation, we must focus on the shortness and conciseness of the message, and add some visual content, too.