I did some anthropological research on Gen Z over the holidays. Here are my findings:
- they like generally popular artists like Kanye and Drake. Taylor Swift is “very millennial”
- they also like more Gen Z-specific artists like Lil Nas X and Billie Eilish
- Billie Eilish is liked because she’s “weird” and “different from everyone else”
- they communicate with friends via iMessage, Snapchat, and Instagram DM
- Facebook Messenger is for “class president types”
- but you have to be careful when snapchatting/sliding into the DMs of people you don’t know well, since it often comes across as flirting
- the predominant internet celebrities are Youtubers
- there are Youtubers who talk about specific topics, like makeup. but the most popular ones are those who talk about their lives and create a relatable persona
- there are popular accounts on Twitter and Tiktok as well, but these are more anonymous meme accounts and don’t rise to the level of celebrities
- there are a lot of scandals; one recent example was a gay male Youtuber who was accused of pressuring straight men into sex (I think, don’t know the exact details)
- these scandals cause a lot of controversy but “everyone forgets about them within a week”
- when asked what political issues their generation thinks are important, the one-word answer was “climate”