• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, June 19, 2013

There’s some encouraging news about the next generation of media consumers in some new research released this week by MTV. The research, which is part of an ongoing series of studies on the media habits, attitudes and behaviors of Millennials, breaks the generation down into two sub-groups: older ones who are 18-plus, and younger ones ages 14 to 17. Why is this of interest to readers of RTBlog? Because the media habits of the younger ones (which MTV dubs New Millennials) are markedly different in terms of how and when they consume media. Yes, they are as real-time connected as any other Millennial, but in an important divergence, MTV’s researchers found they are also more likely to be “mono-taskers.”

Why is this encouraging news, because in an era of always-on, ever-connected media, it’s nice to see that a new generation is adapting, filtering and focusing on what’s most important to them. You know, tuning out the distractions. That’s good news for brands, because it increases the odds that when they do connect with these consumers, they will actually be engaged, not flitting about for the next fix of multimedia stimuli.

Importantly, unlike their older hyperactive generational cohorts, the New Millenials are “hyper-filters,” according to MTV. They’re not looking to simultaneously consume everything and anything, but utilize digital media to curate and zero in on what is important.

“They are also consciously taking time to self-soothe, disconnect, de-stress, de-stimulate and control inputs,” according to MTV’s findings. “They increasingly ‘mono-task’ and focus on immersive hands-on activities like baking, sewing or crafting. Some claim their dependence on social media is overrated: one girl says “‘y parents Facebook more than I do.””

The study found that 80% of young Millennials feel they “sometimes need to unplug and enjoy simple things.”

That makes sense, when you consider that 82% of them feel “stressed or overwhelmed” and would like to “stop and just do one thing at a time.”

That sentiment is manifesting in genuine media behaviors that all real-time marketers and media should be mindful of. More than half (57%) of young Millennials say they like to “take a break from technology.”