Hello everyone and welcome to our newsletter on all things Gen Z.

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

Quite some week in Get to Know towers - it started with the UN General Assembly in New York, but quickly moved onto discussing how oysters in the Hudson (and elsewhere, natch) can save the planet. And Prince William is right on it.

Engaging young people in conversations about climate change is important - and difficult. Much traditional coverage can seem hopeless and bleak, and offering “armchair solutions” trite (we loved the tweet that said “really glad I rinsed out my old tomato can for the recycling this morning” after news that Neymar had flown solo on a Boeing 747 to Saudi Arabia).

The conversations in our newsrooms are more focused on “sustainability” for the businesses that young people use (no greenwashing please) and “equity”, meaning that stories on “Global South versus the Global North” for example gain traction. Where climate intersects with either of these broad themes is where to try and land - more on this later👇🏽.

Talking of what young people consume, the second half of the week was dominated by the Royal Television Society Convention in Cambridge, UK. Alex Mahon, the chief executive of Channel 4, revealed new research on video consumption (particularly relevant to Gen Z) - we’ve put one slide here (which we hope you can read) and it’s well worth watching her whole brilliant speech.

As we at Get to Know, erm, know, video content on social is often the first point of contact with young people on anything.

We’re questioning old language…

You’ve heard of feedback - now people are talking about “feedforward”. It’s a softer, less anxiety-inducing term that focuses more on future development and less on past mistakes. Some companies are also replacing the term ‘review’ with ‘connect conversations’ and ‘self-reflection’. But the switch hasn’t been met with total glee: Jennifer Solomon-Baum, a former Microsoft employee, stated “we didn’t get the richness of constructive criticism. It became a praise festival”. Our advice? Perhaps start with asking people how they’d like to receive feedback, or consult this article for tips on developing younger staff.

… and old career aspirations, too

Would Gen Zers rather be an astronaut or an influencer? Click here to find out. Another interesting insight from the same bit of research is that trust in influencers is growing: the shares of Gen Zers and millennials who said they trust social media influencers grew from 51% in 2019 to 61% in 2023.

We’re praising more nuanced demographic research…

There’s plenty of writing comparing Gen Z with millennials - and deeper it is, the more we enjoy it. New research about mental health from Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation compares Gen Z with millennials at the same point ten years ago. Only 15% of Gen Z said their mental health was excellent, but when millennials were asked the same question a decade ago, 52% said their mental health was excellent. Why is mental wellbeing dropping? This article has some ideas.

… and clapping new climate change content

Jacob Simon’s content from Climativity is cracking that climate change challenge. He sends a newsletter every Friday rounding up all the good climate news from the week (because we need to feel hopeful) and creates mini video reports of the content for his Instagram and TikTok accounts. His approach works for young people - engaging, no jargon and steering away from endless bleak headlines.

And finally…

43%

… of Gen Z women said they would make a big decision based on astrology. Other spiritual practices like tarot cards are also having a resurgence in the age group.

Have a good weekend everyone, whatever your star sign.

How can we help?

In my many travels and conversations, I’m increasingly talking to CEOs, executives and civil society leaders wanting to better understand the next generation of consumers and the next generation of employees. Gen Z is putting pressure on us all to transform in fascinating ways, and many of us are asking questions about how to cater for younger workers and future proof our organisations.

If this sounds like you, we’d be keen to have a chat and see if TNM can help. From our own content production to work we have done, for example, with The Oliver Wyman Forum, we have a raft of insights and data which can support you. We work closely with a number of global organisations – helping with high-impact story-telling, digital media, internal communications, through to employee benefits, HR and working structures.

Email me direct and all of us at TNM look forward to speaking further.

Kamal Ahmed
Editor-in-Chief and Co-founder
The News Movement

Our Top 5 News List

The top stories young people cared about this week, from our audience team and newsroom debates.