Is Gen Z really any different from the rest of us? The alchemy of being born between 1997 and 2012 has produced a generation that isn’t exactly nonconformists, but it is a generation of seemingly disinterested youngsters. I mean, they must be disinterested because they see everything differently. Or is it more obvious?
Jigsaw, part of Google and charged with investigating ‘threats to open societies’, studied the increasingly influential Gen Z generation to understand how they consume information, what they trust and don’t trust, and how they predict facts and truth, according to a detailed report in Business insider.
The results were shocking to Google and Jigsaw, but I could have saved them time and effort by describing my ongoing research into my Gen Z relationship. My non-binary child is 26 and has been teaching me for years what people their age do and don’t do. I understand how they do or don’t connect with peers, gather information, build consensus, and usually don’t take action that they would already consider pointless.
My education began several years ago when I discovered that they (and many other Gen Zers) don’t consume entertainment like I do. I noticed them Watch TV with subtitles on. My child does not have a hearing problem and the show they were watching was not in a foreign language or even had people with heavy accents.
The reason was simple: the show only demanded part of their attention. While they were ‘watching’, they were also on their phones using social media and looking at other content on YouTube or Tumblr. Thanks to the subtitles, they could follow the action on TV.
Nowadays, it’s much more common for people (including myself and my wife) to watch shows with subtitles, but I’m convinced that Gen Z started the trend.
My facts vs your facts
The education continued as we discussed important sociopolitical topics, and I noticed that even though they never watched CNN or opened a news website, they were well versed in most issues of the day. When I challenged them on a point, they noted the details on that topic that they gathered from the grassroots level of social media, including featured stories from people close to the action and other Gen Z cohorts commenting on it.
Researchers seemed surprised to find that Gen Zers don’t read posts (especially long ones like this one) and instead scroll down to the comments where the real action is (sorry, no comments on this site). From the study:
“Participants crowdsourced their credibility judgments by observing how others responded to the same information….”
“…Note that it is her habit to go to the comments first and then to Google to confirm what she finds there, using a search engine as a supplement to multiple social checks.”
The researchers observed the deep distrust of the establishment that I have seen for years. Gen Z not only believes that governments and institutions have failed them; they also distrust the establishment media that reported on them.
The research notes that Generation Z relies heavily on influencers for information and fact-finding:
“Participants used well-known public figures and influential people as surrogate thinkers to help them filter and interpret information.”
Again, this isn’t a surprising development considering this is the first generation raised on YouTube.
The Age of Influence
I remember hearing that my then-teenage Gen Z kid was following Jenna Marble on the platform. Marbles, who was once one of YouTube’s most popular influencers, was brash, raw, and unpolished, but above all, funny. What she told the Gen Z set about the world mattered. Marbles found herself in the crosshairs and abruptly left the platform nearly four years ago. Interestingly, the possibility of cancellation may have played a role in that decision. Years earlier, she had posted a series of questionable videos, and when they resurfaced, she pulled the plug.
The study notes that Gen Z not only relies on influencers to shape their worldview, but also uses comments on content to determine which responses will get them canceled. It’s a kind of real-time awareness that previous generations often lacked and struggled to develop. From the study:
“To overcome their fear of social mistakes, they checked comments for social orientation and looked for answers validated by peers. They often remained anonymous online to avoid being “canceled.”
In a sense, the growth of social media and mobile content consumption and the rise of Gen Z as an active force in cultural, political and social conversations is something of a symbiotic relationship. Modern media and social media are increasingly designed to reach Generation Z where it is most comfortable:
- Short content
- Content powered by paid influencers
- Reddit-style comment forums return to more mainstream content source
- Content that doesn’t make them feel uncomfortable
The researchers, who didn’t conduct a broad survey but rather a more anecdotal study focused on just 35 Gen Z adults from diverse backgrounds, were also surprised to find that Gen Zers avoid content that might upset them and aren’t concerned about the proliferation of AI-generated fake content.
Much of this is a reminder to people like me that my worldview is shaped not only by my generation, but also by my calling. I assume that everyone is interested in the facts and that when these facts are shown, we will all agree on what is true.
Conversations with my child have freed me from these beliefs. They have a concrete belief in their position, based on information from their networks. Historical perspectives and broader context mean little to them. They have the information they need and feel comfortable in their assumptions or facts.
This one study anecdote was particularly telling:
“(One participant) told us that when they researched the rumor that Katy Perry murdered a nun (screen sharing with us a question of their choosing), they were disappointed that they couldn’t find any stories from major news sources that definitively answered this question. They went to TikTok and concluded that if Katy Perry fans hadn’t weighed in, the story wouldn’t be true. They trusted that Katy Perry fans, who were engaging with and reporting on her daily activities, would know the truth. Several participants turned to social media sources of information.”
Change. It’s a thing
One thing I think is not yet fully understood by researchers: Generation Z is a label that you can easily use to define people of a certain age, but it is not a fixed description of every person in Generation Z.
When we think of Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, or Gen X, born between 1964 and 1980, these are people who are now well into middle age or beyond. As groups, they are varied. Some may have been hippies in the 70s, Reganites in the 80s, corporate greedy people in the 90s. Who knows what they are now?
The Generation Z population is already aging into adulthood and facing new realities. They may soon start watching the news sources their parents preferred, or question the reliability of the Hive Mind comments section.
I don’t deny that Gen Z is coming of age in an extraordinary time. No other generation grew up with ubiquitous screens or instant access to the opinions of millions of like-minded people. Their brains may be wired differently. I’m sure that’s mine, but I also see glimmers of change. They too may soon question their sources and seek a new way to gather information and form opinions. And they will be all the better for it as they journey through unknown information space.
Like I said, I wrote this response about the Jigsaw study and about my own Gen Z adult, because I know they don’t visit sites like mine and are more likely to find out about the study via X (formerly Twitter) or maybe TikTok or YouTube and will form their opinion about them based on the responses to the survey. Their reactions to this piece will probably remain a mystery to me forever.