Three realities busting the Gen Z attention span myth

Gen Z is infamous for having a short attention span. Young people do love an endless stream of content, and short-form video is king—many spend more than six hours a day watching content on their mobile phones—but it’s not true that Gen Z can only pay attention for eight seconds. For a generation adrift in an overwhelming sea of content, it’s less about paying attention and more about what breaks through the noise.

(Feeling that way at work? Explore an article by McKinsey’s Aaron De Smet, J. R. Maxwell, and Patrick Simon on why, even though we’re all so busy, nothing is getting done.) 

Here are three Gen Z trends that are breaking the eight-second stereotype.  

Books, books, books 

Gen Z has helped to catalyze a literature revival—book sales set records in the US and the UK last year, with young-adult fiction sales increasing 30.7 percent in the US as teens tore through titles.

The uptick is partly due to a wave of social-media interest; data shows that online communities such as #BookTok directly helped authors sell an additional 20 million copies in 2021. Readers, especially teens and young adults, post videos reviewing titles; one popular trend (that some marketers are beginning to use) is to tell a story as if it happened to you, only to reveal that it’s the setup of a particular novel. As of last month, the #BookTok hashtag has amassed more than 80 billion views. 

And bucking the long-term trends, some brick-and-mortar stores are looking to expand; more than 300 new independent bookstores opened in the US over the past few years. That growth has been helped by Gen Zers, who’ve surprised forecasters with their taste for in-person shopping, including for clothes. One bookstore owner told NPR she “100 percent” attributed the rise in young interest to social media.

(Stressing about finding a holiday gift for your boss? A book from our gift-giving guide might be perfect.)

Deep dive

A Google report on viewing trends found that Gen Zers’ interest in long-form video content, including deep dives on topics they love, is actually stronger than ever. 

That might be watching their favorite video game streamer—the esports industry is worth hundreds of billions of dollars—or a homemade documentary series on local cryptids. Young people also favor commentary on topics they’re already a fan of, and will watch long videos dissecting a sports game, a movie they’ve just seen, or internet gossip. Fifty-nine percent of Gen Zers use short-form video to discover content that they’ll then watch longer videos about, and podcast listens increased 62 percent last year.  

Many Gen Zers will engage with long-form ad content as well; live-streamed shopping events are wildly popular among youth in China and gaining ground globally.  

Movies and TV

Gen Zers are looking forward to visiting the movies this holiday season (perhaps not unrelated to all that time spent with family …).