9 ways millennials are driving Southeast Asia’s tech boom

Millennials are a generation the entire world seems to be watching with interest, excitement, and sometimes anxiety. They’ve been criticized for being lazy and carrying around a sense of entitlement. Studies suggest, however, that claim couldn’t be further from the truth. The fact of the matter is that the future of international business and the global digital economy belongs to those who entered young adulthood at the turn of the century.

Data and speculation on American and European millennials can be found by the truckload. For Southeast Asia’s tech scene, the word millennial is important but less talked about. We’d like to paint a more accurate portrayal of the generation’s importance for the region’s nascent digital landscape. In no particular order, here are nine ways millennials are driving Southeast Asia’s tech boom.

1. The largest generation in history so far, and they love smartphones

1.8 billion out of 7 billion people worldwide can be called millennials. They are the largest generation to ever live. They are influential, impacting purchase decisions of peers and parents. In terms of earnings and spending power, millennials will make more money than the baby boomer generation (their parents) come 2018.

For tech in Southeast Asia, this is interesting because the region houses a large part of that 1.8 billion. Goldman Sachs says millennials have come of age during a time of technological change, globalization, and economic disruption. This gives them a different set of behaviors and experiences than their parents. Countries like Indonesia are currently seeing a new digital generation that doesn’t know a world without the internet or smartphones. 24 percent of millennials worldwide agree that tech is what sets them apart from other generations.

See: Millennials can’t get jobs. New edtech fund aims to fix that

2. Social media savvy and talking about brands

It’s no secret that nearly everyone between the ages of 15 and 35 uses social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Studies show that 41 percent of all millennials around the world have a social media account. They use these accounts to voice opinions about brands and companies. Wired says millennials often take to social media to complain about brands and tech that have let them down recently. This means they will be a company’s greatest advocates or worst critics in real-time. Most of what causes millennials to refer to brands positively or negatively on social media has to do with the online experience they’ve had with the brand.

So what does this mean for Southeast Asian tech people? Startups will need to take social media deadly serious, especially in places like Jakarta, which is now hailed as the Twitter capital of the world. Startups will need to create multiple social media presences to engage with customers who have things to say about their brands – in many regional languages too.

See: Indonesian millennial media IDNtimes bags seed funding

3. Desire for flexible schedules leads to more telecommuting

4. Mobile is paramount

5. Millennials will make or break your ecommerce firm

6. An affinity for entrepreneurship

7. An insatiable appetite for on-demand services

8. Southeast Asia’s millennials are full of ambition

9. A preference for automated solutions over human assistance