Making Media Matter to Generation Z



MAKING MEDIA MATTER TO GEN ZByMegan McGahaA Senior Project Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Bachelor of Science in Graphic Information TechnologyArizona State UniversityOnline CampusABSTRACTContents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u INTRODUCTION PAGEREF _Toc494906684 \h 1Need for the Project PAGEREF _Toc494906685 \h 1Significance of the Project PAGEREF _Toc494906686 \h 1Statement of the Problem PAGEREF _Toc494906687 \h 1Limitations of the Study PAGEREF _Toc494906688 \h 2Definition of Terms PAGEREF _Toc494906689 \h 4REVIEW OF LITERATURE PAGEREF _Toc494906690 \h 5New Media Formats PAGEREF _Toc494906691 \h 5METHODOLOGY PAGEREF _Toc494906692 \h 13Sampling Techniques PAGEREF _Toc494906693 \h 13Survey Instrument PAGEREF _Toc494906694 \h 13Data Collection PAGEREF _Toc494906695 \h 13RESULTS OF THE PROJECT PAGEREF _Toc494906696 \h 14Response Rate of Survey PAGEREF _Toc494906697 \h 14Question Summaries PAGEREF _Toc494906698 \h 14CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS PAGEREF _Toc494906699 \h 22Summary PAGEREF _Toc494906700 \h 22Conclusions PAGEREF _Toc494906701 \h 22Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc494906702 \h 22REFERENCES PAGEREF _Toc494906703 \h 22APPENDIX PAGEREF _Toc494906704 \h 24Survey Invitation PAGEREF _Toc494906705 \h 24Survey PAGEREF _Toc494906706 \h 24INTRODUCTIONNeed for the ProjectAs web browsing became popular and accessible to an increasing majority of the United States, and social media emerged, it seemed to be the end of the print industry. Some misinterpreted this to mean the fall of the news industry as well, but a society with a population of over 7 billion demands some sort of consistent mass communication. Thus, the news industry has not died, and, in fact, is transforming. Unfortunately, the recession lead to a lot of layoffs, and talent was lost. Not to mention, newspapers are struggling to maintain both the old way of doing news, AND newer ways. Reporters are expected to write their articles for print and web, while taking photos and sharing the story to social media, both because there are more diverse demands from the population (social media) and fewer people to fulfil them, as photojournalists and other assisting staff were laid off during the recession.This project aims to cut through the clutter and determine what media formats are favored and will be read by millennials and their younger counterpart, Generation Z. Significance of the ProjectTraditional news organizations may argue that audience-first news is not ethical news, but they have to realize that pursuing news without an audience is simply a waste of resources. There has to be a balance, and too often, reputable news organizations are lagging behind newer, more-fun sites like Buzzfeed and Elite Daily. If longstanding news organizations could keep up with these content machines, they would have a better chance at being not only read, but interpreted and impactful on local, national, and global communities. Statement of the ProblemAs the millennial generation recedes into midlife and parenthood, Generation Z emerges into the workforce, and voting booths. Their attitudes and values will soon shape the world, and with some members of this generation still toddling and learning their ABC’s, many remain blank canvasses who have yet to be shaped by the media landscape. Alarmingly, those older ones who’ve already been exposed to mainstream media have harmfully internalized some elements of the 2016 election. Fake news. Alternative facts. When honors students cannot determine fact from fiction, it's difficult for them to relate to the community around them, which is dangerous because a generation that doesn't care is one that will not be able to assist their neighbors.This project seeks to answer the following questions:What formats of new media appeal to Generation Z? Is interactive all it’s cracked up to be?Where do members of Generation Z get their news?What is their thought process in separating fact from fiction?Where do users look for verification or other information on media sites?How can we improve new media to help citizens discern between fact and fiction?Limitations of the StudyThere are a plethora of limitations to this study, starting with the fact that members of Generation Z are still being born, many are too young to communicate with, and almost all were not accessible for this project as Arizona State University has a policy against directly interviewing minors. That leaves the 18-early 20’s crowd, which was still somewhat accessible by surveying community college students. Another limitation of the study is that age groups like “Millennial” and “Generation Z” have not been specifically defined. Some say that “Generation Z” starts in 1995, others, 1998, still others, 2000. The ending birth year has also not yet been determined.Another issue is accessibility to respondents. Because “Generation Z” is so young, most are still minors, who cannot be surveyed for the Senior Project as per Arizona State University regulations. Which means there is an even smaller margin of students to pull responses from. This will be remedied by polling mainly community college students, because community college students are, generally, in their first two years out of high school. But, as always, there are the occasional mid-life adults who also attend community colleges and made their way into the survey.The limited accessibility made for a difficult time getting statistically significant data as well, and even if it were significant, the skew toward the older part of the generation and the skew toward only community college students cannot really be remedied. In order for the data to at least be statistically significant at even the 90% confidence interval, using a population of 69 million (which, according to the Pew Research Center, represents the number of births from 1998 to 2014), one would have to survey 138 respondents in order to have data with a 7% margin of error, as calculated by SurveyMonkey.By the end of the project, there were only 50 respondents who could be classified as members of “Generation Z”.Definition of TermsAudience First: A content marketing strategy in which the preference of the audience is considered above all else. For our purposes, it applies to the content that news organizations choose to prioritize and publish.“Generation Z”: “(also known as the iGeneration or Post-Millennials) is the demographic cohort after the Millennials. There are no precise dates for when Generation Z starts or ends; demographers and researchers typically use the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s as starting birth years, and as of yet there is little consensus regarding ending birth years.”“A significant aspect of this generation is the widespread usage of the Internet from a young age; members of Generation Z are typically thought of as being comfortable with technology, and interacting on social media websites for a significant portion of their socializing. Some commentators have suggested that growing up through the Great Recession has given the cohort a feeling of unsettlement and insecurity.” (Wikipedia)Great Recession: “The financial crisis of 2007–2008, also known as the global financial crisis and the 2008 financial crisis, is considered by many economists to have been the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.” (Wikipedia)“Millennial”: “a person born in the 1980s or 1990s —usually plural” (Merriam Webster). Clickbait: “something (such as a headline) designed to make readers want to click on a hyperlink especially when the link leads to content of dubious value or interest” (Merriam Webster)Click-Through-Rate (CTR): “the percentage of people visiting a web page who access a hypertext link to a particular advertisement.” (Google Dictionary)Confidence Level: “the probability that the value of a parameter falls within a specified range of values.” (Google Dictionary)Statistical Significance: “the extent to which a result deviates from that expected to arise simply from random variation or errors in sampling.” (Google Dictionary)Margin of Error: “an amount (usually small) that is allowed for in case of miscalculation or change of circumstances.” (Google Dictionary)(Internet) Troll: “to antagonize (others) online by deliberately posting inflammatory, irrelevant, or offensive comments or other disruptive content” (Merriam Webster)Pew Research Center: “a nonpartisan American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the world.[2] It also conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis, and other empirical social science research. The Pew Research Center does not take explicit policy positions, and is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts.” (Wikipedia)Stanford Study: A study conducted by Stanford University researchers at the Stanford Graduate School of Education in which students of various grade levels including college were asked questions to determine how they verify that what they’re reading online is true. The study found “dismaying evidence” that today’s students are not up to the task. REVIEW OF LITERATURENew Media Formats3352800320074806540500According to an article by the Pew Research Center, two thirds of Americans get their news from social media, and two tenths do it often. As their report goes more in depth, it is revealed that despite Facebook remaining the most highly trafficked social media news outlet, “Twitter, YouTube and Snapchat have grown in share of users who get news on each site.” The chart to the left depicts this change, with Twitter up 15%, YouTube up 11%, and Snapchat up 12%. While several other social media sites like Facebook and Reddit showed little to no significant change, those two were still considered the heavy lifters in social media news. The following graphic showed that the majority of adults who get news from social media, get it on Facebook. Of the 66% of adults using the site, 45% use it for news. But YouTube is catching up, not only by being up 11% from last year in usage for news, as in the first chart, but YouTube also has 58% of adult users, 18% of which are now using YouTube for news. One noteworthy find of this report is that the college educated have actually started to use social media less for news than in previous years, whereas social media for news increases among the less educated. As “Generation Z” matures and attends or finishes college, this may be a trend to watch for. However, it’s also important to note that while this survey is up to date as of September 5th, 2017, the election was last year, which would have driven traffic on all news platforms up to unusual heights. An interesting finding in the above chart is the exploding use of Snapchat for news among 18-29 year olds, or “Millennials” and the eldest of “Generation Z”. Pew clocked Snapchat use for news among this group at 82%, a 30% lead over all other forms of social media, trailed only by Instagram, who has implemented many of the same features that Snapchat has in the last year. And it’s also worth noting that YouTube is the third most used social media platform for news among this age group, at 36%. Note that Facebook is the second lowest social media platform used among this age group, just above LinkedIn, which isn’t generally regarded as a social media news source beyond industry specific, career related news. 25276135Another finding of the Pew Report is that while more of the younger generation is using Snapchat for news, this is likely one of their only news sources, because their use of other platforms is distinctively low across the board; with the exception of news websites/apps. Which begs the question: How are they vetting their news to ensure what they’re reading is true?A Washington Post article titled “'These are all fake news,' said the honor student. He was wrong” – which admittedly, relies on unnamed sources but explains that they do so to protect the student’s identities, and which includes several photos of the same students in the same setting - describes a classroom workshop at the Newseum in Washington D.C. called “Fighting Fake News” where students are tasked with sifting through printed news articles from off-brand websites and deciding which are real and which are fake. The writer tracks the students process and reasoning for judging the stories, and describes them looking at (real) images and suspecting that they’ve been photoshopped, and then looking up on twitter and thinking an article about the dead gorilla Harambe getting thousands of votes for president was real because the source, DailySnark, was verified.Twitter’s “verified” badge is used to distinguish celebrity and professional accounts from other, copycat accounts on the platform, but remains a source of confusion to more than just the honor students at the Newseum. An article on Stanford’s Graduate School of Education’s website describes student’s impression of the verified badge: “Students were asked to evaluate two Facebook posts announcing Donald Trump's candidacy for president. One was from the verified Fox News account and the other was from an account that looked like Fox News. Only a quarter of the students recognized and explained the significance of the blue checkmark. And over 30 percent of students argued that the fake account was more trustworthy because of some key graphic elements that it included.”In fact, a quick google search suggests that hackers may target verified accounts as a means of spreading fake news – but that is neither here nor there, nor verified. However, the Stanford Study, which has been widely sourced, also led to several other key findings, such as:More than 80 percent of middle schoolers believed that 'sponsored content' was a real news story. (NPR)More than 30 percent of students thought a fake Fox News account was more trustworthy than the real one. (NPR)98086369405500Less than a third of students thought has a political agenda that might justify skepticism about its data on gun owners. (NPR)The American Press Institute did a study on digital factors and their value to news consumers. Not surprisingly, despite Facebook being the most highly trafficked social media site for news, those who use it trust it the least of all the platforms. Interestingly, they trust LinkedIn the most.Respondents to this survey were also asked which digital factors were most important to news consumption. Respondents voted Ad placement, screen load times, and if it works well on their phone as some of the most important factors. Note that while they valued these features above hyperlinked content and availability of images/video – fewer respondents voted them “not very important at all” than did respondents who didn’t care at all if the site worked well on their mobile phone, though they were still lagging in the “extremely/very important” category. 182823444532550235001000Trust in social media content was more or less the same across platforms, with the majority preferring to trust the original source, trusting the secondary source who posted it was a close second, and the number of people engaging with the post being the least valued measure of trustworthiness. right0Generation Z’s trust in the Government should also be considered, but this is hard to judge because most of them are too young to even vote. The Pew Research Center’s chart below depicts the trust in the government as declining among Millennials and the Silent Generation, and increasing among Generation X and the Baby Boomers as we approach Trump’s administration. Given what we know about Generation Z – that they were shaped by the recession and therefore act much like the Silent Generation, which was shaped by the Great Depression – and that the only ones who are old enough to vote are sometimes encapsulated in data about Millennials, it’s fair to say that Generation Z has a low trust in the government as well.METHODOLOGYSampling TechniquesThe over-18 population of Generation Z was sampled through their colleges in the survey. New Jersey Community Colleges including Raritan Valley Community College, Warren County Community College and Union County Community College participated in the survey. The professor/s handed out the surveys on paper to his/her students, who returned completed surveys it to the professor, who gave the surveys to the author of the report. Arizona State University and The County College of Morris also participated via an online version of the survey via SurveyMonkey, and the online survey was also shared with the author of the report’s Facebook friends. The Survey does not request respondents’ names, and is therefore anonymous – but it does request their birthdate. Survey InstrumentUltimately, for simplicity, as the community colleges have various access to computers in the classroom, the surveys will be manually uploaded to the online SurveyMonkey platform by the author of the report. SurveyMonkey can generate charts, so it is simpler for the author to run the data through SurveyMonkey and export its analysis. Data CollectionData will be sifted through, and respondents born before January 1, 1995 will be removed in order to be consistent with the broadest definition of “Generation Z”. RESULTS OF THE PROJECTResponse Rate of SurveyQuestion SummariesQuestion One: This question just asked the respondents’ their birthday, so that I could determine if they were in fact a member of Generation Z. 29 respondents were not, and were therefore removed from the survey.Question Two: Question Three: Question Four:Question Five: Question Six:Question Seven:Question Eight:Question Nine:Question Ten:Question Eleven: Question Twelve:Question Thirteen:Question Fourteen:Question Fifteen:CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONSSummaryConclusionsRecommendationsREFERENCESAm, P. 0. (2017, May 24). How people decide what to trust on social media and online. Retrieved October 03, 2017, from , P. (2017, May 02). Public Trust in Government: 1958-2017. Retrieved October 03, 2017, from , J. (2017, September 04). 'These are all fake news,' said the honor student. He was wrong. Retrieved September 24, 2017, from , C. (2016, November 23). Students Have 'Dismaying' Inability To Tell Fake News From Real, Study Finds. Retrieved September 24, 2017, from Headlines of Newspaper Articles in a Digital Environment. (n.d.). Retrieved September 24, 2017, from , R. (2016, April 25). Millennials overtake Baby Boomers as America’s largest generation. Retrieved October 03, 2017, from , S., Perrin, A., & Duggan, M. (2016, November 11). Social Media Update 2016. Retrieved October 03, 2017, from , E., & Gottfried, J. (2017, September 07). News Use Across Social Media Platforms 2017. Retrieved September 24, 2017, from researchers find students have trouble judging the credibility of information online. (n.d.). Retrieved October 03, 2017, from Impact of Trust in the News Media on Online News Consumption and Participation. (n.d.). Retrieved September 24, 2017, from SurveyNews Browsing Habits SurveyWhen is your Birthday? ________/________/________Where do you get your national news? (please circle one)Web (if circled, please specify below)MobileTabletComputerPrint NewspaperBroadcast TelevisionRadioSocial Media (If circled, please specify below)FacebookTwitterInstagramSnapchatYouTubeHow many times a week do you interact with the news outlet you circled above? _____times/weekWhere do you get your local news? (please circle one)Web (if circled, please specify below)MobileTabletComputerPrint NewspaperBroadcast TelevisionRadioSocial Media (If circled, please specify below)FacebookTwitterInstagramSnapchatYouTubeHow many times a week do you interact with the news outlet you circled above? _____times/weekWhich of the following would you like to see in the news? (Please check all that apply)____ A story about a National Football Player breaking his ankle____ A story about another country’s perspective on bitcoins____ A chart depicting the likeliness that parents will vaccinate their children against certain diseases____ A calendar of the upcoming little-league season game dates for your town____ A story about a popstar breaking up with her boyfriend____ Snow Day/Delayed Opening Information for all of the schools in your area____ A story about a fundraiser meeting their goals____ A story about a new club being offered at your school____ A story about a youtuber raising thousands of dollars for a family whose home burned down____ A story about a dog that saved its owner from a local fire____ A video of a squirrel that can speak EnglishWhich of the below news stories are you most likely to read/skim/watch? (circle all that apply)HOMEMADE GIANT BACKYARD?She had no idea why the crowd started cheeringWho gets married today? The rich and the educatedI’m a woman and I started using dollar shave club. Here are my thoughts.What do Scientists think of Religion?12 Poses to Soothe Your MoodTen Times Donald Trump insulted groups this fallFAMILY HOUSE DESTROYED IN THE HOUSTON FLOODWe Have Trumps Tax Records29 Awesome New Ways To Style Your Natural HairWhich of the below news stories are you most likely to read/skim/watch? (circle all that apply) Famous Teenager is Making Home RenovationsHigh School Class Surprises Classmate by Crowning Prom QueenNew Marriage Study Reveals Rich and Educated Most Likely to MarryReview of Dollar Shave ClubWhat do Scientists think of Religion?Calming Yoga PosesTrump Continues to Insult Others from the White HouseHome Destroyed by FloodTrumps’ Tax Records: RevealedNew Ways to Style Your HairHow would you rate your trust in the government in general, through the course of your lifetime? (1 = least, 5 = most, please circle)12345How would you rate your trust in the Trump Administration? (1 = least, 5 = most, please circle)12345How would you rate your trust in Social Media News? (1 = least, 5 = most, please circle)12345How would you rate your trust in traditional news media (New York Times, CBS, FOX, etc)? (1 = least, 5 = most, please circle)12345How would you rate your trust in bloggers, vloggers, etc? (1 = least, 5 = most, please circle)12345Please List some of the media that you subscribe to:Brand (ex: NBC, Buzzfeed, Casey Neistat)Platform (ex: TV, YouTube, Twitter)15. Which of the below topics do you want to stay informed about? (Circle all that apply)CrimeSchoolCommunityFinanceBusinessEntertainment ReviewsCelebritiesPoliticsChanging laws and policiesWarMedicalInterestingComedyOther: _________________Which of the following designs appeals to you? (please circle one) ................
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