💥 Quickfire Edition: GenZ & Alpha Paradoxes
Let's keep it short and a little personal this week on Fellow Kids. Your go-to source for GenZ and Alpha.
🙋♀️An inside look at what I do running the Social, Digital and Engagement team at Disney Branded Television
"Don't just market to the community you're reaching—be a part of it."
Last week, I joined Sara Wilson to talk about community strategy and social for Disney Branded TV. Check out the full newsletter here!
Short summary here and fast facts on how we build on social media:
🧍♀️ Show Up: Before you have any hope of conversion - you have to show up! You have to be a member of the community you are engaging in. You have to live in the spaces, not just post in them. But it’s not just about visibility it’s about creating a meaningful presence in the spaces where conversations are already happening.
👨👩👧 Cross-Generation strategy: Disney Branded TV marketing strategy needs to reach both nostalgic parents and Gen Alpha children. This approach requires a nuanced understanding of how families consume media together as well as how to deliver experiences that appeal to both demographics.
🗣️ Talk With, Not At: Social media is more than a distribution platform. They are spaces for us to participate in what the community cares about, create trust, and build connections.
🎭 Participate in Culture: “Being a consumer of the culture is almost as important as making things”. Remember that our audiences are not passive consumers, sure they are algorithm reliant, but they also have agency and actively participate in what interests them. It is important for brands to not see themselves as participants in the larger culture and aligned with interests that matter to their community.
💡 Relationships = ROI: This is both a long and short term game. Long term- you’ll establish brand affinity and relationships with your audiences and your brand. Short term- you will be a part of the conversation that allows you a CHANCE to convert and/or redirect to your business goals.
TL;DR: There isn’t a silver bullet - it’s about showing up authentically, listening, and building real relationships. And honestly? The other option is to become irrelevant or forgotten.
*oh and for those of you who don’t know me - I’m the VP of Digital, Social & Engagement for Disney Branded TV (more here!) nice to meet you and thanks for reading!*
📺 Kids Content Matters
As a Millennial parent of two kids (2 & 5 years old), I see first hand how shows I grew up watching as a kid are dramatically different from what kids see today. We grew up watching Land Before Time, Homeward Bound, Pocahontas, Free Willy, Rugrats, the list goes on and on… and while (some) of it was borderline traumatic - it showed us huge emotional arcs and captured some of the depth and complexities of being a human. This tiktok really sums up my feelings
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My question: What impacts will the media kids watch now - have on their brain development, perceptions of the world and relationships with one another in the future?!
A study from UCLA noted that teenagers who watched Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood as young children retained memories of the show’s lessons about social-emotional and life skills - and more importantly- how to understand others’ emotions, and problem solve. These skills and exposure through media are remarkably important.
Which is to say, it was such a (personal) relief to see Sesame Street ‘rescued’ by Netflix, because while many (Apple, Paramount) continue to retract from the Kids space, there are still partners platforming stories and experiences that express values that are fundamental to nurturing the next generation of humans. And sure it’s not just the social emotional piece, but also stands for good business. I won’t get into it deeply here - but Emily Hogan provides a great recap on the business of Sesame Street/ kids content too.
My Predictions?
📉 The gap between kids with curated media diets vs. those with unfettered access is growing—and the outcomes (mental health, empathy, self-regulation) will be very different.
“We are overprotecting our children in the real world while under protecting them online.”
― Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness
👶 GenZ is for the most part, are the last generation to have parents that were largely ‘offline’ (i.e. Boomers, and GenX did not grow up with as much digital fluency as future generations). This might mark for larger generational differences (both in mental and emotional health) between GenZ cohorts and Alpha/Beta cohorts. I suspect Alpha might have more advantages in guidance from adults in their lives as they navigate the digital world.
🐢 Expect a rise in ‘slow’, ambient, passive content for kids. The use of screens and entertainment as a tool will continue to rise as a counter balance for parents and a means for kids to self soothe.
🚽 Inversely also expect an overwhelming amount of “AI slop” and skibidi, italian brainrot adjacent content. This type of GenZ trend based content will continue to infiltrate into all made of kids spaces.
♻️ Generation of Paradox: Gen Z + Gen Alpha
These kids are living a full-on identity tug-of-war. Some paradoxes we’re seeing:
🎥 Main Character Energy ↔ Chronic Self-Awareness
GenZ and Alpha are the first generations embedded in social media- so much so that they narrate imaginary YouTube(s) in my head and Main character energy
Self surveillance (i.e. ‘cringe’) and human surveillance in the modern world can create negative affects on our brains.
Ultimately…no one knows entirely what Social Media is doing to our kids brain
📵 Always Online ↔ Analog Nostalgia
Depending on your source - Genz spends apx 6.9Hours with screens
Kids want to get rid of their phones (I do also attribute this again to my earlier observation - kids who have adults that were not digital natives, had less guardrails)
Kids are wishing they grew up without the internet - Half of 16- to 21-year-olds support ‘digital curfew’ and nearly 70% feel worse after using social media
🎯 Hyper-Marketing Awareness ↔ Still Falling for Scams
GenZ are remarkably critical of marketing
Yet they are more likely to fall for scams and even more gullible than boomers!
It should also be a cause for concern that younger generations are voluntarily selling data to AI overlords? But maybe this is just a #recessionindicator 🫠
🌐 Constantly Connected ↔ Deeply Lonely
Is it possible they lack an understanding of how to deal with conflict and even basic communication in relationships?
♻️ Climate Anxiety ↔ Hyper-Consumerism
GenZ is currently on track to be the most powerful consumer generation in history with $12T in purchasing power.
Their favorite marketplaces are ASOS, SHEIN, Amazon - and other “fast fashion” despite it’s harmful effects on the environment and sustainability
A study revealed that among 15,000+Americans (age 16-25) reported significant fears about climate change: 43% reported climate concerns harmed mental health & 38% worries negatively impact their daily functioning
⚖️ Algorithm Reliance vs. Self-Curation
This is a complex one I need to dive into more - but generally, there is an urge to break from the boredom of seeing what you already like… as well as the illusion of choice and discovery.
🎯 Headlines
🫠 Millennials are the MOST burnout generation: can confirm this is true.
Netflix launches a finsta @Netflix2 (in advance of Tudum)- their hero account is already hitting 36.7M, which I imagine makes it difficult to have the more 1:1 vibe and this sub account solves for that. It appears this NOT an offshoot brand that appears anywhere else other than social (*time will tell of course) which to me just indicates even more how Netflix understands how lines of business do NOT always apply to how audiences are consuming content on social. There are so many smart strategic reasons this approach. I’m working on a break down on this later :)
Mother Gaga headlined at Netflix Tudum! The crowd was so hyped it felt like I was watching the MTV awards circa 2000s. Judging by the tiktoks I saw from the HUGE group of influencers they had in attendance - it looked like Netflix to GenZ is what MTV was to millennials.
Greek God Hands ✌️hands are dead…genZ has a new way to pose.
Don’t get 0.5x “GenZ” loves to get you at your worst angle. This is hilarious to me
🪝 Content is the Bait—Relationships are the Game
Adi Tiwary breaks it down💄 Rhode x ELF: A $1B Beauty Empire Built
ELF acquires Hailey Bieber’s Rhode. ELF consistently at the cutting edge - first with Naturium now Rhode (FastCoxd. They are an aggressively courting GenZ (Vogue) with some of the more consistent influencer marketing campaigns (ex) break through ocean PR stunt. That said - they did announce their ‘price increases’ and hit with big backlash - but credit due that they are understanding the importance of communicating to their consumers.📱 It’s Not Social Media, It’s Just… Content
Take some of this with a bag of salt since it was extracted from the “snap conference” - but most is valid. Social media becoming more of a video entertainment platform with chatter. For me personally- I much prefer my social video mainly because it feels 1:1 yet like a group chat…
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🎓 Kai Cenat’s Streamer U: breaking it down!
Followup on what we discussed a few weeks ago with this Cosmo recap! Spoiler alert- there were actual physical brawls.
Final Thought:
My greatest fear is that adults continue to turn a blind eye to the paradoxes and the unique challenges our younger generation(s) are facing. So on a very personal note, I do hope this newsletter gleans some understanding and empathy along with the fun marketing hooks in ;) Thanks for reading - see you next week.