YouTube has released its 2024 “Culture & Trends Report” which focuses the rise of fans who also consider themselves creators.
Discoveries:
According to their survey, YouTube claims that over 65% of its Gen X population described themselves as “video creators” while no less than 57% of all respondents said that they watched videos created by fans of particular artists, public personalities or subjects of interest in the previous year.
The report additionally revealed that the space for fan-related content is booming on the platform: around 8% of the Gen Z population describe themselves as “professional fans who earn money from their creation“. Fan content often expands beyond its initial source and gets their own fan following in the process.
“As fans become creators, their creativity elevates mass media, while also spawning entirely new breakthrough phenomena. Creation tools like Gen AI make fan creativity even more accessible, and fans expect their media to be malleable and to be empowered to remix it,” the report stated.
YouTube was sure to differentiate between the types of fans a content may have. “Casual fans may just consume media, but super fans routinely create media about the object of their fandom,” they specified.
Furthermore, 80% of fans between the ages of 14 and 44 check out videos on YouTube once a week that interest them. 66% percent of Generation Z Americans would rather watch original content that dissects and analyzes their interests than original content.
The social media platform conducted their survey among adult respondents who were active online, age 14-44, and Gen Z who were active online, age 14-24.
YouTube’s Advice and Predictions for Brands:
- Closely follow what your fans are following to get a better idea of what your audience is and isn’t responding to in your content.
- Loosen the grip you have on your creations to maximize your cultural relevance and allow your fans to remix and remake your creations in their own image. As your fans are going to experiment with your content anyway, you might as well make use of it.
- Be responsive to what your fans are passionate about.
- Don’t be afraid to lean into new and unfamiliar phenomena that people are becoming fans of.
YouTube also highlighted a few music campaigns that successfully used this approach. For example, McDonald’s tapped into their anime fandom by launching a campaign based on how they are often represented in anime as “WcDonald’s. Likewise, a K-Pop music video launched by Coca-Cola features an AI twist that allows devoted fans to insert their name, voice, and face into the video, after which they could download and share the results. For both companies, this resulted in increased appreciation and a boost of engagement from fans.
Additionally, the report predicts that as AI and new creative tools improve, “fandom” will drive pop culture rather than merely react to it. Brands that fail to engage with their fans in a dynamic and relevant way will risk being left behind.
