UCLA's Fifth Teens & Screens Report: YouTube Tops Young People's Storytelling Media, Nearly 40% Prefer New Faces Over Big Stars
The Center for Scholars & Storytellers at UCLA this week released its fifth annual Teens & Screens report, based on a survey of more than 1,500 young people ages 10 to 24, charting what this generation wants to watch.
YouTube ranked as the top "storytelling" medium at 72.9%, edging out television shows (70.3%) and movies (70.2%), with video games at 68.5%. "The gatekeepers have changed and young people themselves are deciding what they want to watch," said the report's senior author, Yalda Uhls.
On casting, only 16.8% of respondents said they would pick social media influencers to star in film or TV projects, while nearly 40% said they would rather watch content led by new or unknown actors than by big-name stars. On storylines, 57% said they want to see more platonic, non-romantic relationships, and 56.8% want opposite-sex friendships on screen to stay friendships.
Going to a theater to see a new movie remains the group's top weekend activity, the report found. The Center for Scholars & Storytellers, based at UCLA, studies adolescents and media, and its annual report is widely used across Hollywood as a read on young audiences.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: UCLA Powell Library（CC BY-SA 4.0，Wikimedia Commons）
