{"id":61583,"date":"2024-02-05T08:00:38","date_gmt":"2024-02-05T13:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businessesgrow.com\/?p=61583"},"modified":"2024-02-03T10:29:19","modified_gmt":"2024-02-03T15:29:19","slug":"shared-experiences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businessesgrow.com\/2024\/02\/05\/shared-experiences\/","title":{"rendered":"From Memes to Memories: Gen-Z’s Quest for Shared Experiences"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"shared<\/p>\n

Many universities use my books as assigned texts, and I do my best to pop in for a Zoom Q&A with students when time allows. Recently, one instructor asked me if there was anything they could do in return to help me. I said that I’d like to know, “other than environmental issues, what are students worried about?”<\/p>\n

The class gifted me with a set of essays, and the depth of the responses surprised me. Their answers were serious, well-thought-out, and beautifully written. They covered many of the topics you’d expect like getting a job, paying off bills, and the stress of a toxic world.<\/p>\n

But one response stopped me in my tracks, and I’d like to share it with you today. It shared a unique perspective … but at the same time, his concern seems so obvious. I’ve edited the comment slightly for clarity. This will get you thinking …<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

“Compared to any other generation, Gen-Z creators have a much greater ability to publish their work, artists are freer to share and skip hassle-laden middlemen, and small businesses can start online with much ease. In essence, there is just much more of everything, which is always good. However, as a consequence, there are much fewer shared cultural experiences among my generation.<\/p>\n

\"100“There is unlimited segmentation in every market, and infinitely more consumer options.<\/p>\n

“For example, we don’t watch the same late-night show on Saturdays. I could talk about the newest Netflix series I’m watching, and no one in the room will have heard of it. We don’t listen to the same DJs on the radio — we all have hyper-tailored Spotify playlists. There are chart-topping popstars whose names mean nothing to most people.<\/p>\n

“So we are rarely united by the shared experiences that brought our parents and grandparents together with friends. This is why I think we’ve been clinging onto mundane things and memes such as Barbenheimer<\/a>\u00a0and why the Among Us<\/a> video game craze got us through Covid-19. We’re hungry for memories with friends and anything that would create a special bond among members of my generation, even if it only lasts a couple of months at a time.<\/p>\n

“There is a lot to fear in out world — the environment, war abroad, a pandemic resurgence, and the like. But\u00a0 I fear that as a generation we won’t have a lot of “back then…we all did x” sorts of stories to tell my children one day.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Quite an amazing statement, and he’s right.<\/p>\n

It made me think of my pre-internet college days. The Student Union building had a music listening room. It was a large room with couches and big pillows all along the four walls. Students would choose on side of a record album to listen to and dozens of students would sit quietly, perhaps studying or reading, enjoying new music through a great sound system.<\/p>\n

Similarly, if you wanted to hear rock music, there was one radio station, so that was a shared experience. Everybody stayed up late to watch “Saturday Night Live” and talk about it the next day. If you wanted to see a movie, you gathered a bunch of friends — and you probably had a beer together afterward.<\/p>\n

In hindsight, this young man’s observation is so clear, but it’s the first time I’ve seen the dots have been connected in this way.<\/p>\n

No wonder Gen Z feels so isolated and disconnected. Much of their world experience is siloed, coming to them through earbuds as they sit alone on a couch.<\/p>\n

Toward shared experiences<\/h2>\n

Unsurprisingly, I just saw an article in The New York Times<\/em><\/a> about groups of Gen Zers forming film clubs. They gather in pubs and other locations to watch and discuss movies together. Could this be the first wave of a new shared experiences trend?<\/p>\n

Another recent article documented teens leaving a smartphone liberation movement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I’m thinking through some of the implications for marketers.<\/p>\n