Gen Z. They are the kids you are trying to connect with. The big question is...how do you catch their attention? Where is their attention focused? What is the best platform to use?A recent study gives us some answers. In September, a study of over 2,700 families with kids ages 12 and under was conducted. It revealed some interesting findings.
72% of kids' daily media viewing is from streaming services such as YouTube and Netflix.
52% of families use SVOD (streaming video on demand) as their primary source of kids' media consumption.
61% of children prefer to watch media on their tablets, while 40% use their smartphones.
78% of families subscribe to an SVOD service, while only 72% now subscribe to a traditional television service.
Among content providers, YouTube reigns supreme. It is the most-loved brand among kids and the most popular source of streamed content. YouTube accounts for 24% of all streaming content with Netflix accounting for 13%.
50% of families subscribe to two or more SVOD services.
Half of parents say when they choose an app or service specifically for their children, the top feature they look for is educational content and the ability to filter content by knowledge areas. Shows and characters their child likes comes in a close second.
Studies also show that kids are increasingly engaging in short videos, games and education content that is presented in a playful format.
What does this mean for the church?
If we are going to effectively connect with today's kids, then we've got to use a streaming video on demand platform.The good news...it doesn't depend on money. Any church can make videos for kids and put them on YouTube for free. Yes...the more creative they are, the more kids will be drawn to them. But remember...many of the most popular video channels just feature a person talking to the camera.
Perhaps instead of spending our time creating take home papers, we should be spending our time creating 2-3 minutes lesson re-cap videos and posting them on a YouTube channel we've created for that purpose.
To my knowledge, the only inroad we've made into Netflix is Veggie Tales. Apart from that, there is no other Christian influence that specifically targets children on that platform. Pray with me that God will raise up more creative people who will have with the ability to connect with kids through this platform.
The floor is yours. What are some ways you or someone you know are using the SVOD platform to connect with kids? What are some dreams or ideas you have for doing this? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.
