Why The Very First Digital Native Generation Is Seeking IRL Connections All Of A Sudden?
Gen Z has had a lot of identifiers thrown at them. From the offensive to the inoffensive, from being tagged lazy to being called zodiac-obsessed but perhaps one of the longest and one of the more original titles that got thrown on Gen Zers is that of being the original and very first digital native generation. In the simplest of words, this means we didn’t just grow up on the internet, we were born into the internet. We’ve always had the internet. We were born into an interconnected world where already most of the world was aware of each other beyond the history books and world news on TV - we had direct access to. The importance of this can not be overly emphasized nor can its impact on how we build relationships, see the world, and so much more. So most of Gen Z culture is interpolated with the fact that we have a connection that is as real and fickle as our Wifi access and it is so vast that even with all the Gen Z research people like me and companies like Kenga do, the true impact of this will probably never fully be known. It is why it is important and interesting to watch the conversation seemingly switch as Gen Zers seek out real-life conversations with themselves away from the Internet that has defined them for so long.
Recent studies show that as time passes, the value many Gen Zers place on interpersonal relationships is reaching interesting new highs. Nearly three in four in a recent survey confirmed that connecting with close friends is the simplest way for them to feel happier. The effects of the pandemic have also helped push this along as 69% of UK Gen Z respondents plan on spending more time connecting in person than before the pandemic against 63% of Millennials and 59% of Gen X who feel the same way. Off-cuff and unattached to numbers, we can not deny the spike in memes about how much better life is after hanging out with your friends. These memes make the most sense when you look at recent research that shows 56% of Gen Zers report being lonely at least once or twice a day, compared to 24% of Boomers. At the same time, 45% of Gen Zers believe there is too much pressure to be perfect on social media. What does this pressure cause? An aversion to screens and the Internet, 41% of teens say they’re overwhelmed with the number of notifications they get daily. These numbers look ready to increase over the next couple of years and are already seeping into other non-social aspects of the daily lives of Gen Zers. Already more and more Gen Zers are seeking IRL options for training like job interviews and recruitment processes - 51% of Gen Z job seekers prefer face-to-face communication and want to form trusted relationships with their recruiters.
Photo by Jed Villejo on Unsplash
Chisom Peter Job, a 22-year-old journalist and writer living in Nigeria, believes so much of this is rooted in a desire and search for community and the realization that online communities can only do so much or go so far. “I think it’s this way now because of the need for community, and there’s only little the internet can do in that regard, especially when it’s becoming a space where people of marginalized identities no longer feel safe enough to connect with other people —worse than it has been in a while.” Job also goes further to share that there is a rise in overall guardedness towards people we meet online. ‘‘The internet also doesn’t give enough room to get to know a person the way you would offline, and a lot of people are becoming more guarded online,’’ Job explains.
The digital native is already threatened as 37% worry that technology is weakening their ability to maintain strong interpersonal relationships and develop good people skills and a 2020 survey by work management platform Smartsheet, shows that a staggering 95% of Generation Z and 93% of Millennial workers reported difficulties working from home during the pandemic. This challenges the common notion that these generations, often deemed as digital natives, seamlessly adapt to remote work.
What Brands Can Learn From This?
The tag of digital native especially as regards marketing means that many brands believe the only way to connect with Gen Zers is online and the only things Gen Zers seek are short-form digital content that at least doesn’t last. This can not be further from the truth, brands need to notice and follow the fast-rising apathy towards the digital world so much of their young audience feels and adapt to and include IRL and offline spaces as a significant part of their strategies, such as Instagram already is doing. On August 1st, Instagram launched a new campaign in partnership with ad agency Johannes Leonardo and Meta’s in-house creative shop Creative X. According to Marketing Dive, ‘Both shorts document the ups and downs and FOMO of teen lifestyles in the types of moments that are frequently captured on Instagram. “Small Fries” revolves around a budding relationship that begins with a meet-cute at a fast food joint, while “Send Off” follows three friends who plan a snail-themed party as a fourth prepares to move away.’ This is a great way to lean into an offline life that focuses on IRL connections that many Gen Zers are greatly desiring while pulling focus to the app itself.
