Seconds are Gold for Generation Z

In a great number of conversations that I have with different executives, there’s a topic that keeps coming up again and again: Generation Z, the group of young people — born in a fully digital environment — that is taking the world economy by storm. Today, they represent 46 percent of the global population. According to the World Bank, this group already represents 41 percent of the worldwide workforce, which is why today it is critical to understand their present and future needs.

Being digital natives, they have had significantly more exposure to video content than other cohorts and have adopted tendencies that have helped them shape their personality and let their imagination run wild. Short videos are the product of their creativity, a format that they can share directly from the palm of their hands, communicating all types of powerful ideas in a matter of seconds.

We have seen how content creators with millions of subscribers can generate tens of millions of reproductions in a very short period of time. The short format, however, which in the case of YouTube Shorts is equivalent to 60 seconds or less, has the capacity to drive billions of impressions in a relatively short time. Research by Boston Consulting Group shows that in a two-year period, the short format generated an economic footprint of US$193 billion, while creating approximately 660,000 jobs across the world. The future keeps looking bright for this sector. Last year, on YouTube, we launched Shorts, which up to December 2021 had reached 5 trillion views, with the videos in our new Shorts player, receiving over 15 billion daily views.

Creators using this format have developed an even stronger bond with their communities. We have people like Palomares Magic and Chingu Amiga who, between the two of them, have reached a community of almost 10 million subscribers, demonstrating the impact of and interest in this kind of content. Looking to push imagination boundaries even further, a few months ago, we announced a creators’ fund of US$100 million to reward those who create the most original content. Mexico is among the first countries that will participate in this initiative where, each month, thousands of creators will receive a YouTube alert that notifies them when their content is eligible for the Shorts fund.

Due to the newness of the format, it’s fertile ground for creators and brands looking to develop new connections with their audiences, positioning them higher than their competition. Also, the short video opens the spectrum to younger audiences through a familiar language. That’s why it is worth asking: how can one take advantage of it?