What can comms and marketing teams do in the wake of Netflix’s ‘Adolescence’?

In light of Netflix’s most recent phenomenon, Adolescence, the conversation around the manosphere, incel culture, and how young people communicate with each other has taken off on a whole new level. From news articles questioning how we ‘raise good men’, to journalists wondering what Gen Z really think, to countless posts across social media giving advice on how to ‘decode’ emojis, it’s likely you’ve seen something relating to gender-based violence over the last couple of weeks. And, you are probably wondering how you can build on this conversation within your own communities. 

We spoke to our community partners, youth engagement specialists Participation People, to get some advice on how comms and marketing teams can get to the bottom of what young people think and feel, and how this can be used in a positive way to inform messaging and create stronger, more resilient communities.

The number one, most important thing we can do when creating content, is listening to what our audience, in this case young people, have got to say. It’s not about asking them what they think so we can respond, it’s about understanding what influences them, their experiences, and anxieties, all of which build up a picture of where they’re coming from. We must acknowledge that they may have very different views to what we expect. 

It’s vital that we create safe spaces for young people to talk, both online and offline. Are your social media channels a place where teenagers feel comfortable to join the conversation? Do you have a place in your community where young people can meet up outside of school? Can you encourage parents and carers in your area to create a safe space to talk at home, be in front of the TV, or round the dinner table? These spaces are crucial when it comes to engaging with young people, especially when it comes to gently encouraging them to challenge the negative content they see online.

When having conversations with young people, avoiding assumptions on what they think and what their terminology means, is key to uncovering the truth. A good example of this is the use of emojis in Adolescence and how this has made its way across social media. 

Take the red, blue, and black pills for example. It’s true that in some schools and communities, using the red pill means they’ve had the wool pulled away from their eyes to reveal that female oppression is just a myth. However, this isn’t the case everywhere. So, it’s important to avoid assumptions such as this to discover how young people communicate specifically in the different communities you’re working to engage.

It’s also important to recognise the enormous impact that social media has, and why this is. It’s well known that social media can be a bit of an echo chamber, no matter what your demographic, but for young people this can be exacerbated by headline culture. According to Participation People’s research, young people have an attention span on social media of around 1.7 seconds. This means that they’re seeing a headline and almost immediately swiping onto the next bit of content, which will be another headline, and then onto the next and the next and the next and so on, and so forth. Fast paced scrolling and the amount of information young people are consuming on social media, makes it very easy to get stuck in a negative echo chamber potentially full of harmful language, opinions, and news. This, in turn, can then sometimes be carried through into their real lives. 

In fact, we are now seeing young people communicating in person in similar ways. They may start a conversation by using a short sentence, and then someone will jump in and try to ‘one up’ them with another short sentence, and then someone else may get involved, and so the cycle continues. 

This is how incel culture spreads across social media and into real lives. Understanding the real impact social media has, and respecting how, where, and why they have the perspectives they do, is absolutely essential in beginning to challenge those views.

Once we’ve created safe spaces within our communities, and are respecting teenage perspectives, we can then begin to gently challenge young people to question what they see and hear online instead of sometimes repeating headlines. 

A good way to start is by encouraging teenagers and educating responsible adults on how teenagers can ‘reset’ their algorithms. On Instagram, you can physically do this by going to your profile, tapping the menu icon, scrolling down to ‘content preferences’ and then tapping ‘reset suggested content’ and ‘confirm’. 

TikTok works in a very similar way within ‘settings and privacy’ and is labelled as ‘Refresh your For You page’. However, this may be too much of a hard sell for a teenager, so instead we can chat to them about their passions, dreams and interests.

Once we’ve discovered and explored their interests, it’s easier to persuade them to control their information intake by encouraging them to engage with content that suits their hobbies, favourite sports teams and latest TV obsession, rather than media that incites negative views. The more they’re able to engage with content they enjoy, the more the algorithms will slowly start to filter out any negative, harmful or radicalised content they may be seeing.

Once you’ve started listening to young people, respecting their views, and understanding where their opinions may be coming from, you’ll start to be able to authentically collaborate with them. One of the ways you can do this is to ask them what they’re interested in and what matters to them, rather than asking how they can help you. When we start shifting power dynamics and seeing them as a people to connect and collaborate with, it’ll all start to fall into place.

As mentioned earlier, engaging with young people in safe spaces where they feel comfortable is vital. After all, we don’t connect authentically with people when we are defensive, scared or on edge. This could be anywhere from local groups and community spaces to chip shops, barber shops and bus stops. Regardless of where you pick, it’s important to make sure the place you engage with them is somewhere they feel completely themselves. And no, a school is not one of those places. There, a young person will be more aware of their surroundings, their teachers, and their peers, and therefore won’t be completely honest. And trust us, you want to know what they really think if you’re going to create campaigns and messaging that truly speak to them.

Another way to work with young people, for young people, is to partner with young content creators. Again, they’re likely to be open and honest about what they want to see happen in their areas if they feel they’re valued, and that their opinions are respected. Working with influential people that are admired by people of a similar age and demographic, is a great way to get your message across, as fellow Orlonians will testify to. When chatting to their teenage children, our colleagues found out that their kids trust the influencers they see on social media, in particular on TikTok, and believe that they can tell when they’re being fake. They want to see people like them on social media and really value their opinions. This makes it even more important that the influencers they do hear from are spreading positive messages.

We can all agree that being a teenager is hard enough as it is. From the physical changes, to the hormonal changes, to the pressure of trying to fit in, try new things, dealing with exams and homework, working out what to do for a job, what subjects to do for GCSEs, whether to go to college, where to go to university. It’s all so overwhelming and remembering that will stand all comms and marketing professionals in good stead when it comes to engaging with young people.

By using language that fosters collaboration and respect, setting a culture of listening and understanding, and by gently challenging them through conversation rather than simply disagreeing and judging, we can make a difference in how we communicate with them which will, in turn, help to minimise the impact that social media has in promoting toxic masculinity and gender based violence.