If e-Sports doesn’t ring a bell, you wonder what Gen Z searches for most on Spotify or you’re concerned over fake news on social media, then this Youth Updates is for you.
Issues: Searching For Sad
It’s recently come out that Gen Z’s most searched word on Spotify is ‘sad’ – it seems they love a sad song by the likes of Lana Del Rey, Billie Eilish and some of the mellow tunes of Taylor Swift. Sad music is often considered to be more relaxing and chilled out, due to its slower pace and more melodic nature, which might be one reason why Gen Z loves it so much.
It’s also debated whether Gen Z’s traits of being empathic, emotionally in-tune and reflective, lend them to seeking out sad music to listen to. However, experts reckon we shouldn’t be too concerned about this trend as it could be a healthy way to deal with emotions.
However, sitting alongside this is the fact that the Guardian wrote an article all about levels of happiness from a Girlguiding study. This study said that 9 in 10 seven to 21-year-olds feel worried or anxious and only 17% feel very happy. In the survey of 2,614 girls and young women, many described how negative feelings about body image, problems online and shrinking aspirations were eroding their wellbeing.
Are this generation sadder than others? Or are they just more in tune with their feelings?
Guardian Article: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/sep/13/happiness-of-girls-and-young-women-at-lowest-level-since-2009-shows-uk-poll
Digital World: E-Sports
E-sports stands for ‘electronic sports’. It is essentially competitive video gaming, and there are many genuine competitions and contests across various games. The most common genres of games include battle royales, first person shooter games, online battle arenas and real time strategy games.
There are fully fledged organisations behind the scenes of this and there’s even British e-sports (https://britishesports.org/) whose website reads ‘British e-sports aim to promote e-sports in the UK, increase its level of awareness, improve standards, and inspire future talent’. British e-sports are involved in competitions for those aged 12+ in games such as League of Legends and Rocket League and have even partnered to make a BTEC in e-sports.
This isn’t just a competitive hobby though as there’s money to be made and won from the prizes of these competitions. In 2019 the winner of the Fortnite World Cup was a 16 year old who won a whopping $3million!!!
Hot Topic: What’s In The (Fake) News?!
Once upon a time, the common ways to hear news was through newspapers, articles, the radio and news on TV. However, young people are primarily getting their news through social media. Rather than seeking out news, news often finds its way to them via their social media feeds instead.
This means that news can come to them from a whole bunch of sources – and not always trusted ones. Whilst classic news outlets do often have a social media presence, there are also hundreds of everyday people aiming to educate and inform and to give their opinions on topics – with some being helpful and truthful and others, less so. There are also those purposefully creating fake or misleading content.
Alongside this, social media algorithms will latch onto what content young people interact with which can also create echo chambers of similar opinions, rather than balanced perspectives.
Platforms have tried to implement ways to flag up misleading or inappropriate content but often they can’t take down this content faster than it’s going up. This can mean that content based on little fact can easily circulate, as well as violent or triggering images.
Some news content like ‘a llama saves a dog in a flood’ aren’t hugely problematic if they’re fabricated a little bit. However, some of the most significant conflicts, events and news are being communicated about and discussed on social media platforms where it matters that sources are true and researched.
(Listen to the podcast for an expanded conversation)
Word Of The Month
‘menty b’ – A short way of saying ‘mental breakdown’, often used to make light of a situation or create humour from a time when someone was stressed or emotionally run down.
“Here are five things to help you when having a menty b.” “My friend had a menty b when she realised the coffee had run out.”