As an entire generation, Gen-Z practically lives online. On average, a Gen-Z person will spend roughly 10.6 hours online, and roughly half of them will watch YouTube on a daily basis. This makes sense, because YouTube is an accessible and entertaining platform. With millions of videos being posted daily, and a tried and tested algorithm, everyone can find something that they like.
But perhaps one of the most popular format of videos to appear on YouTube, are video essays.
Video essays are essentially what they sound like, a video that does an in-depth exploration of any given topic or niche. Some of these videos can be as short as 10-minutes, while others push into the two or three hour marks. Surprisingly however, these video often do well to keep viewers, most of whom are categorized as Gen-Z, engaged.
“The topics are more specific to what I’m interested in,” said Cyrus Lariz. ” Compared to television, which is more broad.”
Lariz is a student at Eleanor Roosevelt, and his favorite channel for watching video essays is Rusty Buckets, a channel that covers news and stories from around the NBA.
Therein lies one of the greatest advantages that a platform like YouTube has when it comes to content: variety. When it comes to television and documentaries, it takes a lot of planning, research, and funding to go into any given television program. So, typically the topics that are covered in a documentary or cable produced content are going to be more general and based in common interests. YouTube on the other hand, has thousands of creators, all of which have a community of people with a more niche or specific interest. The smaller operations that exist on YouTube allow for creators to make the type of content that their audience is interested in seeing.
Video essays are also a great alternative form of entertainment for people who want something other than just television or music. These kinds of videos are designed to not make the viewer have to think too hard about what is being discussed. Instead, it streamlines information in a way that makes it easier to absorb and all the more entertaining.
“For me, its often an alternative to music if I’m not in the mood to listen to it.” adds Lariz.
In short, video essays have grown to become a huge part of the content that is watched on a daily basis by people online, and their incredibly simple, yet endlessly entertaining format means that this form is likely to remain online for years to come. Eventually, video essays may end up becoming the go-to source for knowledge and entertainment for a new generation of tech-savvy viewers.
