Chapter 1 — Introduction to Generation Z and the world of digital natives.
Note to reader — This is the first draft of my proposed opening chapter of my project, and is my 3rd revised draft of bringing together various sources and data on Generation Z. The aim here is to give the reader an overview, and then look at area’s of interest that the data throws up — This draft has not been dyslexia checked by my editor, citations are provided, but without bibliography and contains my (the researchers) notes to self — The data and information here represents 9 months of research, and will be added to and edited to over the course of this project — 2/12/20.
- - Introduction — Welcome to Generation Z, The Digital Natives in a 2D World.
Abstract
Who are Generation Z and Why are they the study group at the centre of this research project.
Every generation wants to be the last — Chuck Palahniuk, Lullaby
As early as 2016, the majority of Millennials, those Born between 1980 to 1995 (Williams and Page 20??) will have moved from the classroom into the workplace, leaving a new Generation to fill the gap — its at this time our study group appears, enter stage left Generation Z.
Generation Z are growing up at a time of great change, and to find a definition of Generation Z which is beyond purely a numerical one of dates, times and a brief history, we perhaps should focus on additional aspects, therefore Generation Z is one that is defined by the events it experiences and that experiencing these key events it will offer powerful clues to the psychological characteristics of this new Generation of humanity (Dorsey 2020).
For Dorsey, Generation Z started around 1996 — too young to remember 9/11 but old enough to remember the 2008 financial crisis and how it effected their generation X parents (Dorsey 2020) Dorsey believes that this experience of uncertainty has resulted in a more fiscally conservative and pragmatic generation, which are also humanity’s first true digital natives.
DEFINATION OF DIGITAL NATIVES/ Or NOT?
The final important global event that all of Generation Z will remember, but the next Generation will not, and so bookmarks the end of Generation Z is the Covid pandemic of 2020 (Dorsey 2020) which at time of writing, October 2020, is still on-going with no end in sight.
1.2 — About my Study Group
And so our Study group are called Generation Z and this generation begins when the first group are born, which starts between 1995/96 according to (Dorsey 2020) and (Koulopoulos 2014) This first of their generation are entering adult hood at the book mark ending of the global pandemic of 2020. This means the oldest of this generation, born in 1995/96 will be 25/24 years old and have been adults for several years and are part of society, by being in the work place or advanced education or exploring adult hood.
The next age range, will be a younger Generation Z those aged 18/19 born in 2001/2002 are now entering adulthood (defined by being over 18 years), some of these will be at University during a global pandemic, where much of the learning is taking place online only, and freshers week, has for some, been a time of quarantine and isolation (BBC citation)
The teenagers of this generation, those 13 to 17 year olds, born from 2007 to 2003 are the youngest group in this study.
For this study, my target age range will be 16 to 25 years, those born between 2004 and 1995, this will enable me to focus the research on members of this generation who are able to vote, have completed a statutory education or are in the process of doing so, and so are making informed life choices, and are consuming media and entertainment which is influenced by peers and marketing and not by choices made by parents.
This age range is also forming its own opinions about the world, perhaps even changing it, and is starting its journey of adulthood, and so is making choices on career, education and life choices.
And as we will be exploring digital platforms and content, the minimum age to engage on these platforms is 13 years old, by starting at 16, the youngest of my study group will have had 3 years on which to move from a newbie status within this digital community and will have formed socially within this digital space and understand its tools and effects, and will have experience here, and therefore be able to participate in this study.
In this study, I also want to explore what it means to be Generation Z, is it just a convenient generational label used by marketing companies to group together individuals into a recognised marketable data set, or is it as Thomas Koulopoulos in his book ‘The Gen Z Effect’ argues that there are several basic drivers shifting us to a post generational world, where Generation Z will be the last generation of the twenty first century, and will be the generation which brings in a new era of creativity and innovation ( Koulopoulos 2014).
( Koulopoulos 2014) presents a viewpoint, which I will explore in detail, which is that, what if the idea of having separate generations, which represent distinct and separate groups of people, with each group categorised by a common set of beliefs, experiences and values of how the world works, and as they pass through life, these systems of belief become entrenched, leading to stifling of innovation and disrupting and protecting the wealth of ideas, power and influence they have built through their efforts, what if the entire notion of distinct generations has become a convenient fiction? ( Koulopoulos 2014)
Instead, we should look at generation Z from an alternative viewpoint — one in which we can participate and join, and not just use as a categorical sub heading to describe a group of people, born between this date and that date, instead ( Koulopoulos 2014) argues, we can sign up and be part of this generation, as if it were a brand experience.
1.3– My Study group and their relationship to Digital Entertainment and Consumer habits which might inform us (Paint a picture with data)
INTRODUCTION — WHERE AM I GETTING MY RESEARCH FROM AND WHY IS IT VALID — SOURCES, INSIGHTS, METHODOLOGY
Digital Entertainment (Digital Television, Digital Music)
Social Media
Video Games (Relationship to XR)
Spending Habits (Consumer Habbits)
Health and Wellbeing
Community, Politics and Environment
Community, Environment and Politics of Generation Z.
Generation Z is more uniquely diverse than any previous group, this example of family life demonstrates this idea.
Traditional families for Generation Z are not always made up of parents of different sexes. This exposure to different cultural perspectives makes this generation more accepting and open minded of differences than any previous generation to date (Pew, 2014) Their parents also marry later, if at all and are less likely to get divorced.
And so security is a paramount trend amongst Gen Z, Like their Generation X / Millenial Parents, Generation Z are growing up in economically difficult times, probably more so than any other period in recent memory with the global pandemic.
Research from both recessionary periods around the Great Depression of 1929 and the 1970s shows that kids who grow up in recessions are often less confident, ‘settle’ in lower paid jobs, and are fearful about financial difficulties, but a situation is also created within the Generation as some respond by saving more wealth or investing, whilst others respond by avoiding what is perceived as an ‘arbitrary’ or ‘uncertain’ financial system, (Woods 2019) by becoming entrepreneurs and thinking outside the box, or inventing new products, services and ways of doing things.
Generation Z also have new ways of meeting friends / partners and starting relationships, via smart phone apps and websites, Generation Z are no longer subject to geographical restraints when making friends or looking for a partner — via apps such as ??? ??? ???
there is a community which you can join to find the type of person or community you want to be part of — relationships no longer need to be physical, they can be virtual, with a rising number of Gen Z having long distance virtual relationships, leading to increasing trends in savvy virtual relationships (Woods 2019) where they never meet.. (also use BBC doc example here from lit review)
what this is demonstrating is that, if social mobility is restricted, either by financial constraints or by a global pandemic, then relationships and lives can be emotionally played out in the virtual space, and that this is accepted behaviour, but for a Millenial or Gen X generation, this would be not be accepted as easily, as courtship in the adolescent years, would for this older generation have been played out much differently — these virtual lives are discussed with peers on social media and in RR and there are spaces popping up to cater for this virtual connection with people –
Facebooks mission statement for 2020 is to ‘connect the whole world’ (citation needed check ref) and their VR space Horizon, is exactly this, a virtual space to meet people and share ideas without ever meeting.
Generation Z can have relationships friends/partners online, without ever meeting them, just through online connections — this is common in the game space (quote the BBC doco here) — Gen Z have diversity built in, its the older generation who need education on LGBTQ rights and people from different backgrounds (citation!)
Generation Z and the environment??? Greta effect, Attenborough on Instagram
A Generation that cares, David Attenborough joined Instagram this month, to promote his new Netflix show, and hit 1 million followers in record time — 4hrs 44minutes, he is 94, but like I said, we can all be generation z now and Generation Z are massively into the environment, this is why they are driving veganism, they don’t drink as much as generation before, if at all! Great Thurnburg is 17 and a leader of students, just from twitter…
Influencers are the CHIEFS of the community and its pretty democratic, the more votes in likes and follows you get, the more influence you have… who are Generation Z top influencers and what effect do they have on the tribe. (lots of citation needed!)
Privacy, sharing and data
The internet will never forget Generation Z — example,
The right to be forgotten?
Until the end of the 20th century, most young people could take for one thing for granted, any embarrassing behaviour, would eventually be forgotten, getting drunk at a party, dodgy clothes, a bad hair cut, even if this was documented in a photograph, the likely hood of it being re-produced and shared via the analogue technology of the day (Supersnaps, and Boots 1hr photography processing) was minimal (Eichhorn 2019)
my online trail begins around the age of 20, my primary school years and teenage years do not exist in any online form of data…. Generation Z begins before they are born, what effect does this have on the rights to privacy of the individual, and in a world of 24/7 user generated broadcast via social media, what are the implications, and why is this important for this study.
Its important, because it enables us to get inside the head of the individual, by understanding the privacy concerns and what they wish to protect, we see an action which corresponds to an emotional trigger, we see emotionally what something means to that individual — what value is freedom, and what will an individual do to attain it.
An internet that never forgets is especially bad for young people, as past identities become stickier for those entering adulthood, its not just these Generation Z individuals that will suffer. Society will do too (Eichhorn 2019)
Generation Z are capturing more than 300 images each day, from selfies, to screenshots to carefully posed photographs of friends, to zoom chats, facetime and social media videos (snap chats, youtube, etc) One Billion photographs a day are uploaded to Facebook alone (Eichhorn 2019)
But this documentation is not without risk, and Generation Z are not the first generation to document themselves and their world to this extent.
The parents and grandparents of Generation Z, the first users of photo- sharing services like Flickr, put these young peoples earliest moments online.
Without Flickr users permission or knowledge, hundreds of thousands of images uploaded to the site were eventually sucked into databases, including Megaface — a massive data set used for training face recognition systems, as a result, many of these photographs are now available to audiences for which they were never intended (Eichhorn 2019)
When Generation Z are not being photographed by either themselves or Millenial or Gen X parents and grandparents, these digital natives are also the most intensively tracked generation at school.
Millions of young people now attend schools where online learning tools monitor their progress on basic math and reading skills alongside daily interactions. The tools capture once ephemeral steps in students learning and social development (Eichhorn 2019).
This mode of surveillance education will only be heightened by the Covid lockdowns which will force educational establishments to be accountable for both students education and for teacher assessment.
In the summer of 2020 algorithms were used to predict the outcomes of both UK GCSE and A-level results based on mock exams and some student assessments, with these results pinned to a graded success which will allow them into college or University,
the first signs of scandal hit, when high achieving students, where getting lower than expected grades, this fiasco spilled over into the mainstream press and government intervention was required, and in the end students grades where at times discounted, and it was at the say of the university or college whether the student could progress, not based on this algorithmically generated grades but on other assessment criteria (Citation needed)
OTHER SURVEILLANCE
Digital school security companies delete student data after 30 days, but schools and school districts can keep it for much longer. The data is also shared with law enforcement when potential threats are identified. As three US Senators wrote in a recent letter to more than 50 educational technology companies and data brokers ‘Students have little control over how their data is being used.. (they) are often unaware of the amount and type of data being collected about them and who may have access to it’. (Eichhorn 2019)
Its also worth noting that Facebook began as a Harvard Facebook (Tell the story) illegally using data stored by the university, which then rolled out to anyone with a .edu e-mail address, before growing into the multi cross platform we have today.
Why is this surveillance state within education an issue?
Erik Erikson, a 20th century psychoanalyst, suggested in his 1950 book ‘Childhood and Society’ that the adolescent mind is in ‘a psychosocial stage between childhood and adulthood, and between morality learned by the child and the ethics to be developed by the adult’ During this period the adolescent can enjoy a ‘psychosocial moratorium’ — not on experience, but rather on the consequences of decisions (Erikson 1950).
and so if every move, every action is being tracked in the playground, in the halls, the classrooms and also via the online learning and even by connecting to the free wifi in a school, Generation Z teenagers, who are transitioning from childhood to adulthood find themselves in an educational surveillance state, created for the benefit of the institution and the student, but without the explicit opt in policy of the student Teenager, instead permission is given by the parent to the institution in which the teenager will attend — how many parents will be reading the full terms and conditions when applying to these schools.
And so this can lead to a variety of critical dangers.
(Eichhorn 2019) suggests that Generation Z will become risk averse and miss out on experiences which shaped the previous Millenial and Gen x Generations.
(Erikson 1950) suggest that adolescents is the free space to experiment with life, make radical choices and play at growing up, mistakes are allowed and expected — but under the duel surveillance of Peers via social media and the institutions hosting the Generation, THIS DUALITY of pressure is infact pushing Generation Z into becoming experts at privacy management and understanding the value of their data and online interaction trail, way in advance of their older generational counterparts.
Generation Z’s worlds are very private, they will share there digital selves only with people THEY LET IN… so definitely no parents and no SCHOOLS or WORK! — they have small social networks which are private, and they are part of tribal larger networks.
Marketing to this generation, experience or experiential marketing over adverts, they are media savvy, they know when they are being sold to, and they don’t like it, its a privacy thing, or they need to accept the trade, I.e, yes we will use this free tech, we know there will be ads, thats ok — no pop ups, without permission!
Privacy and data protection is part of the mindset of Generation Z, whom face global terrorism, the aftermath of 9/11, school violence and cyber bullying, economic uncertainty, recession and mass unemployment due to the Covid pandemic, whilst simultaneously they continue to experience the spread of ‘Tweendom’ including the commercial exploitation of young girls (and to a lesser extent boys) that is pushing a tween lifestyle heavy on teen aspiration to the cost and loss of childhood (Williams and page, 2011)
Aspirational images and media saturation of the news feeds and video streaming channels of Generation Z by companies looking to sell a product or service, is a daily occurrence for Generation Z, infact research by XXX shows that XXXX adverts a day are served to a typical Generation Z smartphone user, up from XXXX on a previous study.
Traditional marketing doesn’t work for Generation Z, in a report by Vision Critical (Appendix 2), which states that Gen Z prefer ‘cool products over cool experiences’ and are both entrepreneurial and tech savvy, and 75% of them who were surveyed are looking at ways of turning their hobbies into full time work, with 72% of high school students want to start a business someday, with only 39% saying they wanted to work for someone, 61% would rather be an entrepreneur than an employee when they graduate college, and with Gen Z population set to reach 80 million (2018) with spending power of 200 billion $ in 2018, according to (Kleinschmit 2019) as we can see, this is a Generation who is looking to make its mark on the world and drive significant entrepreneurial change.
Generation Z teens receive over 3000 instant messages a month, with Snap Chat and Instagram as the primary message sharing platforms, and they watch twice as many mobile phone videos as any other demographic, with 70% watching over 2 hours of Youtube video a day (Kleinschmit 2019)
This ‘Tweendom’ is what is behind the profitable success to the tune of billions (how much are these platforms making?) for platforms such as Youtube, Instagram and Snap Chat.
And as we will see in the next section, Social media, streaming video and living a virtual life, is all part of the Generation Z lifestyle, some of it by choice, some of it as a necessity.
Role of Digital Entertainment (Digital Television, Digital Music) and Social Media with Generation Z
Generation Z are a generation of Ccs (Culture Creators) that are redefining entertainment, consumption, the workplace and marketing. The CCs are empowered, connected, empathetic self starters that want to stand out and make a difference in the world. (Kleinschmit 2019). Generation Z has an innate comfort with the virtual world. For these consumers, the internet has always existed, these consumers are likely to feel that constant innovation is a given (Wood 2019) which given the entrepreneurial mindset discussed previously, would also mean that Generation Z will be innovating for itself, and not just consuming innovation — they will be part of the driving force for advancement, and remember we are looking at 16–25 year olds with drive and ambition.
To do this they are humanity’s first true digital natives, born into a world where the internet has always existed, who’s existence is tipping towards a more digital only life, where time spent online is on par with time spent in real reality (RR), or real life.
As I will explore in this section, Generation Z have a digital landscape carved out for them by technology giants, Such as Google, Facebook, SnapChat, Apple, for them to occupy free of charge in exchange for personal data, or for a low cost monthly subscription, this landscape can be accessed anywhere and by anyone with a smart phone and a 4G (soon to be 5G) or Wifi connection.
Upon these platforms Generation Z divides culture online into topics using a # hashtag, this innovation is part of the toolset and language of social media and enables users to have the ability to organise self organise around content, which is important to a community, you can # hashtag text, in the form of social media posts, which might contain images, video, audio, or computer programmes or apps — the more people post the same # hashtag, search engines within each social media or search engine pick up on this, and display it as a trending topic, allowing users from outside the initial # hash tagged conversation to join in with engagement, which can be positive, I.e people learning something that they didn’t and engaging with perhaps making a change in society, as seen in #blacklivesmatter or the user might choose to ‘Troll’ the conversation or individuals who are discussing this topic. (citation)
The #hastag also allows for the term to be searched post event, or post conversation and so acts as a way to archive the internet and also find users who have interacted with a subject matter and might be interested in a topic of conservation you wish to get started.
#Hashtags started on twitter as a way for conversations to be tagged and archived, and have over the past few years become part of every social media platforms vocabulary, it is a universal way, an internet cultural specific invention, which is now used to great effect by Generation Z, but also commonly used by other Generations on the internet as normal behaviour.
Within these built platforms, Generation Z are using freely available tools to build networked communities on the platforms, to create and share content and discuss radical new ideas such as Black Lives Matter, where social media and the application of a # hastag can change the world and influence culture.
Increasingly we are seeing online virtual culture cross over into real reality — #Pizzagate #Blacklivesmatter #Metoo #Qanon and this is powered by streaming video.
The combination of streaming video and audio content via Youtube and Spotify, coupled with a sense of 24/7 social media connectivity with friends, peers and work colleagues, or fans on Instagram, Snapchat and private messenger Whatsapp and to some extent Facebook, see’s Generation Z carving out a digital first community, with its own culture, lifestyle and social norms and rules, the likes of which, previous generation’s of humans (Millennials, Gen X, Baby Boomers) are entirely disconnected from, but are influenced by.
and to participate fully, would require Generations outside of Gen z to step into a kind of digital alien world, with its own culture, customs and social norms, a digital metaverse created by Generation Z culture creators with freely available tools.
Generation Z have created a new cultural currency that values uniqueness, authenticity, creativity, share-ability and recognition. What’s different for this generation is not as simple as internet or technology. Technology is an important component, but what’s changed is this generation's relationship with culture (Kleinschmit 2019).
and so to better understand this generation, we will focus on key platforms where Generation Z activity takes place, look at what data we have to back up assumption based on participation and creativity, and explore the effects of user generated culture on these platforms and how they relate to the research question.
In a national study conducted by ‘The Center for Generational Kinetics (CGK) in 2020 they led a research study which consisted of the following methodology, a custom questionnaire of 32 questions was created for a Gen Z and Millennial study. The quantitative study was administered to 2000 U.S respondents ages 13–42 including 997 Gen z (ages 13–23 and 1003 Millennials (ages 24–42). The sample was weighted to the USA Census for age, region, gender and ethnicity.
The national study was conducted online from September 27 2019 through to October 10th 2019. Figures are statistically significant at 95% confidence level. The margin of error is +/-3.1%.
The CGK research study highlights a number of key findings, which I will summarise here, the full report can be found in appendix ?.
Digital Streaming services dominate, with 74% of Generation Z dependent on technology to entertain themselves, with 30% of most of their free time spent on streaming content (CGK, 2020).
Generation Z see’s 32% of users streaming 1–2hrs a day of Youtube, with 24% streaming 3–4hrs a day and 23% streaming over 5+ hours a day.
YOUTUBE — So why and how has Youtube come to dominate the lives of Generation Z and how are they using this platform and why?
What is Youtube in 2020 vs Youtube over the ages — it has developed, show how, why and where are we now?
Question? — Exploring Youtube — a space for user generated content and under presented stories not found in the so called mainstream media.
And the culture, its all online, which means the 1980s music, lives next to the 2000s music on a spotify playlist, decades no longer define this generation, only the fact that if its been digitised for access or not — this point is used in READY PLAYER ONE — Wade the main character has all the 80s pop culture (movies, games, music) on one hard-drive, 10 years of culture reduced to content to be consumed for free by Generation Z — youtube and spotify are these hard-drives, and ‘recommend you this’ or ‘you liked that, you will like this’ is an algorithm for bringing community together around content.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/oct/11/youtube-more-representative-of-britain-than-bbc-says-uk-boss — Jim Waterson
Sun 11 Oct 2020 14.42 BSTLast modified on Mon 12 Oct 2020 04.37 BST
YouTube’s UK boss has said his platform is more representative of modern Britain than broadcasters such as the BBC, saying that television channels are falling behind because they do not provide material that speaks directly to all parts of the country.
The Google-owned video service is on the cusp of overtaking the BBC as the dominant media source for 16- to 34-year-olds in the UK, with the average adult internet user watching 46 minutes of YouTube per day. (Waterson, 2020)
Ben McOwen Wilson said a key part of his platform’s success was that it offered audiences material from “different races, genders and regional diversity that just isn’t available in traditional media”.
He highlighted the beauty presenter Patricia Bright, along with Folkestone PE teacher Matt Morsia, who quit his job to become a full-time YouTuber and “now earns way more than you or I will ever earn. I don’t know that traditional media was ever looking to cast someone from Folkestone in fitness videos.” (Waterson, 2020)
McOwen Wilson argued that while traditional British TV channels were still essentially elitist and London-centric in their outlook, his site was creating global stars. These include Colin Furze, a science presenter from Lincolnshire, who gets a cut of the site’s advertising revenue. Instead, YouTube is working with the BBC to help the broadcaster increase its on-screen and off-screen diversity in terms of race, geographic and economic background. (Waterson, 2020)
The CGK study, shows that Youtube is the dominant force in digital entertainment for Generation Z, a finding which is echoed by Stacy Wood in her NC State University paper on ‘Generation Z as consumers: Trends and Innovation’. Woods states that Escapism is a key trend with Generation Z, and the desire to escape is likely to be facilitated by technological advances that 1) make entertainment products like video games more real and compelling 2) offer greater 24–7 access to social networks and 3) offer greater mobility in devices that offer escapism. Since many of the escapist consumption pursuits available to children are computer based, this might develop increasing trends in savvy virtual relationships, but eroded skills in face to face social encounters and relationships.
(YOU NEED TO RESEARCH THIS PROPERLY) Youtube is a social network, and uses a social graph at the heart of its algorithm to connect users via recommendation with other users who host video that they might ‘like’ to watch, The more relevant your video to a particular type of user, the more it will be viewed and then google will rank that video as being more significant and move that video into its recommended titles, based on topics and stories that you the user are likely to be looking for.
When the CGK study asked Generation Z what they spend most of their time doing outside of their primary job or school the number 1 answer out of 15 options was watch Youtube. 84% of all Gen Z and 90% of younger Gen Z (13–17) are on Youtube at least once a week, 63% of Gen Z are on Youtube 2 hours or more a day, and almost 1/3 (32%) of younger generation z are on Youtube more than 4 hours every day. (CGK, 2020)
its clear from this snap shot that Youtube is the dominant force and leader in digital entertainment for Generation Z, available via smart phone, tablet, smart tv and as a free app on all games consoles including Playstation 4 and 5, Xbox and Switch — its a mobile, user generated content platform which allows anyone with an idea, and a camera phone to create content and then freely distribute.
But what are Generation Z watching on Youtube and why is this important to our study?
Generation Z’s relationship with Video as a means of self expression — exploring the use of Music and performance with social media.
Spotify and Youtube have changed the ways music is consumed, shared and ideas are created — what about XR, snapchat and tiktok filters and Virtual Reality… how and why are these used — memes and emojis as a form of communication
Role of bandcamp, soundcloud as independent spotify
This leads to…
The democratization of technology means that younger Generation Z are the trend setters, rather than older, wealthier individuals, particulary in the tech space.
Tik Tok is music performance driven, why did they choose this as the main form of engagement — I think this is important to this study?
Role of SNAP CHAT in the lives of Generation Z
What is Snap Chat and how is it used by Generation Z
What the litertature says about Snap Chat
Examples of Gen Z snap chat content — Creators, Lens, experinces
Summary effect on Gen Z culture.
Role of INSTAGRAM in the lives of Generation Z
What is Instagram and how is it used by Generation Z
What the litertature says about instagram
Examples of Gen Z instagram content — Creators, Lens, experiences
Summary effect on Gen Z culture.
VIDEO GAMES
Role Video Games (Relationship to XR) and Generation Z
What are video games (top 5?) and how is it used by Generation Z
What the literature says about video games and generation z
Examples of Gen Z and video games in the media — ESPORTS, games like Roblox, fortnite and Minecraft, are social, creative and playspaces — and in some respects mirror facebooks Horizon virtual space… content from these spaces is then broadcast, and influencers of these spaces born.. Ninja for example , most followed Fortnite player on youtube.
Summary effect on Gen Z culture.
1.4- Case study — Interview with Generation Z creators — Roblox creator, Tilt Brush Artist, Musican (Billie Ellish)
I have access and already interviewed Roblox creator Matt from Oblivion Films, Matt is 19, he started working in the Roblox sandbox when he was 9 — his latest feature film animation made within this space has 35 million views and zero marketing budget, I interviewed him about all this — his film ‘The Last Guest’ and his youtube channel here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZM6ztUlLWY
I will also include VR Artist Rosie Summers — https://twitter.com/vr_rosie (7000 Twitter followers)– from her bio #VR Artist, Animator #TiltBrush live performer / 3D Animator @ XR Games / VR workshops & immersive #AR Art creator / Obsessed with spaaaace — Rosie uses Virtual Reality Art, via Tilt brush and shares her creations daily with fans online.
and lastly — to show what happens when this is applied to its extreme, I will look at Billie Ellish — who recently won 3 grammys for her music, and started by uploading to soundcloud at 13, and now 18 (5 years) has 67 Million Instagram followers, https://www.instagram.com/billieeilish/ and is still connected to her fans (ive joined a few facebook groups with her fans, and they are a dedicated bunch!)
Worth a read for background — How Billie Eilish Is Reinventing Pop Stardom https://www.vogue.com/article/billie-eilish-cover-march-2020
Again, what tools are they using and why, how? WHAT CAN THESE TOOLS ACTUALLY DO, BREAK IT DOWN
1.5- Tribes and Subcultures within Generation Z — examine niche audiences
We are in the age of Influence and no longer in the age of affluence, (Citation)
Building on the research from 1.3, and using examples from 1.4 here I will argue that Generation Z in a virtual space is defined by ownership, like a tribe of a digital space, and this space is occupied and built by the community, within this space are influencers and brands which gather around a digital campfire, which the bigger it gets, becomes a village, then a town, then a city — I will show that these spaces, which are developed by FANS, these spaces are the building blocks of the concept of the metaverse, which will take us into the Metaverse chapter.
1500 words
1.6- AN INFOGRAPHIC OR VISUAL THING WHICH TIES UP EVERYTHING FROM THIS CHAPTER AND ENABLES THE READER TO UNDERSTAND IT IN A SERIES OF IMAGES.
Evolution from a 2D virtual space to a 3D virtual space — when the culture and community is ready, and the technology is ready — a leap will be made… Generation Z and the Metaverse.
They are loyal to a brand — usually this is because all their tribe is — which is perfect for instagram and places your friends hangout
Leisure is screen time, but screens allow access to different platforms
Generation Z and fast fashion, from instagram to boohoo.com to the door in less than 24hrs
Top 5 lists — top 5 generation z instagrammers / influencers, top 5 artists (musicans) top 5 TV programmes, top 5 websites, top 5 social media — a list of top 5 brands (COULD I DO A TOP 5 SURVEY??)
COMIC CONS — THE METAVERSE IN RR
Digital tribes and Generation Z (more on this later)
3000 Words
