Written by a Gen Z Digital Storyteller

If Gen Z falls between 1997-2012, then here I am, a 1999 kid that can’t really say I grew up in the 90s. As a Gen Zer, I think a lot about this generation and what people have to say about Gen Z. Now, for a Gen Zer with an interest in marketing, it gets even weirder.  For the most part, I don’t think what leading experts and marketers have to say about us is necessarily wrong. It’s true, we are rallying around environmental and social issues and expect brands to do the same, especially after everything that has happened this year. It’s true, we are the most diverse generation yet and are a pragmatic bunch, seeking meaningful careers outside of the normative career model. It’s true, we are digital natives and with technology at our fingertips 24/7, our world is larger and our voices are louder.

That’s the thing that really fascinates me: digital storytelling. I enjoy this one quote from this article, “Gen Zers’ omni-channel experiential desires manifest in how they’re communicating with each other…the digital sphere is synchronistic with their everyday worlds.” In other words, the digital landscape is very much tied to Gen Z’s sense of identity, and this generation craves the opportunity to engage with stories across the media mix - video, podcast, playlist, article, poll, etc. - because any form of media can be the message itself. Take for example this one popular meme featuring two guys in a heated argument about characters in the Wizard of Oz. Across TikTok and YouTube, people from all over the world recreated this argument in a thousand creative ways whether it be a Spotify playlist, a Google Slides presentation, pottery, or chalk on a sidewalk. 

You may be a digital strategist, a digital marketer, a social strategist, a brand strategist, an influencer, regardless of whatever you decide to call it, it’s important to remember this: our social platforms do not create or define our human experiences. Our human experiences and the billion genuine ways we live our lives are what create and define these platforms. We’re not looking for the next hashtag or an emerging social platform to dictate what’s trendy or what we should believe in. The most compelling uses of social platforms are those that recognize the importance of aligning with and speaking to authentic human experiences. Because the digital landscape is ours. It is how we communicate with each other, form mass communities with strangers, engage in impactful dialogue, amplify our ideas and identities and support or rebel against brands. 

And in 2020, it can feel like the digital landscape is all we have. We’re students, interns, job seekers, colleagues, bosses, parents and more, all online, all navigating our lives with a million tabs open. It’s easily overwhelming, but from a digital storytelling lens, I gotta confess, also kind of intriguing. With one of my video side projects, I wanted to find a way to tell a digital story of my own and to capture how much of our everyday digital tools have become inexplicably tied to our lives and to our daily routines, especially during quarantine. Between attending back-to-back Zoom meetings, typing notes, listening to Spotify playlists and attempting to organize our messy lives, I mean desktops, we must trace these digital stories back to where it all began: our messy, disorganized but real and irreplaceable human experiences.