GenZ and how they consume video?
I’ve heard a lot of conspiracy theories based on this, they call us the high-speed generation, we want everything short and fast – sorry to disappoint you but it’s not true. Just like we forget to check out from TikTok and we end up spending 3 hours on it before we go to sleep, so we do in front of the TV when we are watching a show. That’s just so we make things clear right off the bat.
Why do we prefer the short video format instead? That’s what we’ll tell below in this article carefully written by the hands of a proud representative of Generation Z.
Let’s start by telling you the best example of why we, as younger people, are now consuming more short content.
What’s your favourite show? Whatever it is, you watch it to follow the story line. Each episode has a plot that ties in with the last episode and is definitely the setup for the next episode. The same narrative thread carried over into multiple episodes. Same characters and same aesthetic.
What’s different when you look at TikTok? Or Reels? Or even YouTube Shorts? Exactly – different content with every scroll. You know what makes short video content even more enjoyable? That you have so many platforms delivering short video to you, that you can make your algorithm whatever you want. To explain better, I’m pretty sure only 50% of Gen Z know how an algorithm works even halfway, but they know enough to set their platforms to deliver it according to their interests without intertwining one with the other. Am I confusing you? I’ll explain in a moment from my own experience:
On TikTok, on the For You page, only my biggest interests are delivered to me and that make me laugh – meaning I see what’s new in the anime world, I see certain TikToks from some content creators who don’t really belong on the platform, but are my daily source of amusement (especially when I log in to read the comments), I see announcements about series and movies, events that interest me.
On Instagram I see Tips & Tricks on the travel area, discover new places in terms of travelling and look for aesthetics of beauty.
On YouTube Shorts I’m kept up to date with everything that’s going on in the lives of the big stars of “Abroad ” who are making their Hollywood rounds – because you need a bit of drama in there to have a good time, it’s already a known fact that Generation Z craves drama. Other people’s drama, of course.
I’m just an example of working with the algorithm so that it gives me the platform I want, but I need you to take my word for it that this is how we all work, this is why we consume so much short video. It’s always what we like.
Another part explored, unfortunately only by young people, of these platforms is the search engine. I mean Google is so last season and why read about a topic when there is a 30 second video that explains it better?
This is where it’s the parents fault, they told us the old saying from a young age whenever we did it wrong: “You learn from your mistakes!” Well, we learn from other people’s mistakes.
TikTok search button it’s so much more than you think. When you search for something on TikTok it’s not just about content creators and viral sounds, by any means. TikTok, which currently indexes descriptions in Google, gives you a huge range of information. On TikTok you find niches from financial education to advertising to healthcare. There are people who specialise in these areas who make content and explain all sorts of topics in 1 minute or less, and it’s no secret that human interaction makes you understand better. If I want to search on TikTok, for example: “The traditional cure for headaches” there is someone who made a video on the subject. Why go to sites full of ads that won’t let me get to the topic until I’ve clicked close at least 5 times, when I can find a video of a man who tried that cure and actually got over his headache?
To make it even clearer, I learned the correct order of applying lotions to my face from a dermatologist who made a video on TikTok.
That being a plus to the TikTok platform, but you get the idea.
Let’s also talk a bit about Reels, the TikTok of Instagram. Let’s not hide behind our finger, we know who was first, the OG, so there’s no point.
Instagram isn’t that advanced in its search engine, but it recommends Reels to you based on the accounts you follow. It’s enough to like 2 videos, that by your algorithm it has figured out what you like and that’s what it gives you.
Insta Reels is that fancy brother who graduated Ivy League college and is the pride of the family, that’s compared to TikTok, which is that funny brother with about 3 more overdue exams from last year. I say that because on Reels you find beautiful, eye-catching, aesthetic things. People who post Reels are careful to be in keeping with their own profile aesthetics, so automatically they can’t help but be beautiful.
Why does Gen Z consumes Reels? You get bored of comedy at some point, you also need to see something beautiful, “stylish, just enough”. We go on Reels because we want to see that cool beach in Portugal where all the surfers go. We want to see what the Aurora Borealis looks like. We want to see life a little romanticized. We also need classics and hope (hope that we’ll get there, if there’s one thing we’re all good at, it’s dreaming, but you`ll see we usually get it). We are the Vision Board generation, of course we look at Reels where everything is a Vision Board. We manifest more low key, as I like to say.
Now it’s the turn of the old YouTube. Real talk is the app we can never betray. That’s where all the drama is, all the sauce, that’s where we’re most up to date with what Kim Kardashian is up to and what’s going on with Selena Gomez.
For now it’s not that explored by Romanians, but in 2 years at the most it will be the biggest hype for us (like all apps and everything new, it arrives a bit later).
YouTube is our last hope before we play the show. We get here out of boredom, but we’re hooked on the topics and we stay. We really enjoy drama!
To sum up, no, we are not as complicated as people seem to label us. We don’t have an ounce of alien DNA that makes us roll our eyes when a movie plays. We’re the same generation that sits in front of the TV for 35 hours to marathon Harry Potter.
Do we prefer short video content? Yes, at all hours. You can consume it anywhere: at home, outside, on the subway, everywhere. Is it different? Yes, that’s why we prefer it. Can I stop at any time without feeling sorry for not knowing what happens in the next scene? BIG YES.
Basically, short video content is convenient and we, as a generation, are convenient. We like whatever is comfy, don’t mind it, we want to be chill on all levels. 😊
