We’ve asked two teenagers to shed some light on exactly how young people engage with digital content, the social media platforms they use and the formats they enjoy. Their articles below are surprisingly similar – they want their content on TikTok and Instagram, they want it highly visual, and they expect it to be personalised. They’re also becoming AI savvy and will sometimes learn about products promoted by online influencers.
Isaac Dransfield, 17
As a teenager myself, I use two social media platforms every day: TikTok, and Instagram. My expectation from these sites when browsing is that the content I come across is relevant to my interests. I think the experience of each social media user needs to be completely different.
I know that my friends and I all seem to view and engage with specific online content, whether it is football, certain viral videos, or often videos we can just relate to. But I also know that my younger sister views and engages with content that is very different, such as product reviews, daily routines, and dance videos. For digital content to really engage teenagers it needs to be targeted at a specific group and then link to their key interests.
Personalised content
Across TikTok and Instagram the way in which online content is displayed is completely different. I prefer TikTok because it shares short videos or several pictures from any creator it has calculated I will like. So, my “For you” page is full of content that I am almost guaranteed to like. This means that I don’t have to follow anyone to receive the digital content that interests me.
Instagram has a similar system. You can spend hours scrolling and watching short videos from random content creators, although the content I receive is not as tailored to my interests. Instagram’s posts and stories also allow me to see the online content that my friends have uploaded.
A feature of these social media platforms that helps to improve engagement is that they give users the opportunity to like posts as well as leave comments.
Music and pictures
Although those two sites are the ones which I use the most, it doesn’t mean others don’t exist. The likes of Facebook and Twitter/X are still extremely popular, but less so among my generation. I think this because they have less visual content. I know that for me to become interested in digital content it often needs to include something to look at. On Facebook and X, although there may be content to interest young people, overall, there is a focus on information and debate pushed through text.
I would say visual content, whether it is photos or videos, always gets more engagement from teenagers. I prefer being able to see what is being pushed to me rather than having to use my imagination like I would with text (because I am lazy). I also feel that often on apps like TikTok, the use of music and different sounds can change how I engage with digital content. If a video has music over it that I like, I often find myself liking it and looking at more of that creator’s social media posts.
Online age gap
Teenagers vary so much in terms of style, interest, and beliefs and so, for different people the material they like, and dislike is different. In my opinion young people often engage with digital content by creators of a similar age.
The use of AI in generating content is something that I often see online whether it be on TikTok or Instagram. It can create great quality, and sometimes even unnoticeable content with a point and purpose. Also, for creators it means easy creation of online content without the need for high-cost production. I see videos and photos online with AI voiceovers and generated images. I don’t have any issue with it and often find it quite funny. But I suppose that’s because the content that I receive on various social media platforms is often just nonsense rather than anything important.
Lucy Hunter, 17
As a 17-year-old completing work experience at Wardour, I was excited to share what I really expect from digital content. Companies often make assumptions about the type of content that people my age are interested in, and although these assumptions can be accurate, they are often not.
In a world where there is so much online content available, companies need to use a digital content strategy that ensures theirs is appealing. I think that if they used a content strategy of posting more visual media and increasing their presence on TikTok and Instagram, they would appeal more to a teenage audience.
Instagram over X
My preferred social media sites for accessing online content are TikTok and Instagram. Both sites provide information in an easy and entertaining way, often relying on visual formats like images and videos. TikTok’s ‘For You’ page and Instagram’s ‘Discover’ page offer a range of digital content that is curated to your own interests, based on similar content that you have previously interacted with. The strong algorithms of TikTok and Instagram, as well as their use of visual media, is why I prefer them to other social media platforms for accessing content.
I sometimes use X (formerly Twitter) to seek out online content. However, I prefer to use TikTok and Instagram as they don’t rely on text-based content and use other formats that are more visually exciting. On YouTube, I usually watch the content creators I have subscribed to, rather than seeking out new ones. However, I have found out about products and services that I wouldn’t have heard about otherwise because they have been promoted by an influencer in a YouTube video that I have watched.
Short-form not long-form
I prefer to watch short-form videos on TikTok and Instagram Reels rather than on YouTube’s ‘Shorts’ platform, as I find that the content marketing is less accurate. I have accounts on Threads and Facebook, but I only use them to contact family members, and I think they generally appeal more to older people.
I find short-form video to be a very engaging content format, as the message that the company is trying to communicate must be condensed into a short amount of time. This means that the online content can only address the main points of the topic, and any unnecessary additional information is not included.
I sometimes watch longer video content on YouTube, and I find videos that also contain images and text to be the most engaging. I usually turn to animations when I want to watch a simple explanation of a difficult concept. I also look at infographics on Instagram or Pinterest; I find them visually appealing and useful for accessing specific information about a topic.
Not too much text
When reading articles, I prefer to read shorter articles with images used alongside text. I really like online content that is visually exciting, such as content with colour or images. I find long text-heavy articles with large amounts of data to be less engaging, as they are difficult to understand and time-consuming to read. There is a multitude of content available on social media platforms and if a post is not immediately engaging, e.g. visually, it is easy to lose interest.
I prefer online content to feature a diverse group of people, as it means that any views being expressed are representative of the wider population, rather than a select group. However, if there are different groups being represented this should be because of their contributions to the content rather than as a token way to demonstrate that a company is diverse.
AI scepticism
While AI can be useful for generating ideas, I dislike content that relies on AI-generated text or AI-generated images. I think that the use of generative AI is leading to a decline in high quality content. AI-generated-text often sounds unnatural and using it for an entire social media post suggests that the company does not genuinely care about the topic they are addressing. As AI-generated images are not necessarily reflective of real life, I don’t usually trust articles with these images as much as I would for those with professional photography.
I feel that some companies try too hard to appeal to young people in their digital content, such as by using an excessive amount of online slang. I think that posting content that contains accessible language and exciting visuals would allow companies to appeal more to teenagers, without seeming condescending.
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