Gen Z Trends: With Me Videos

Let’s be completely honest: we have all felt alone at home even way before the lockdown started. Everyday tasks have seemed heavy and dull many times, and we have experienced isolation even in a world where social distancing wasn’t a thing.

And now, every emotion of loneliness and cluelessness seems to be adding up to the objective uncertainties of the outside world. It’s true for us, and it’s even truer for Gen Zers, who have developmental duties to attend (you know, figuring out their future, transitioning from adolescence to adulthood, dealing with school and peers, entering the workplace during the toughest period since the Great Depression. That kind of easy stuff) in a timeline that is not really able to provide much stability and hope in the future.

So, in a moment of seclusion and precariousness, does it really come as a surprise that the latest trends among Gen Z (and older generations too) are videos of people streaming solo activities so their audience can do things with them*?

We are not talking about crazy difficult tasks or specialized jobs here. The With Me videos are about mundane chores and duties, those that you are supposed to perform alone and have all figured out by yourself (and that would make you feel awkward if you had to admit you don’t know how to do them).

The With Me videos may not be a novelty on the YouTube scene, but their success is surely soaring. They started in 2010 with the “get ready with me” videos, which were proto-makeup tutorials where you could follow someone while putting makeup on.

A couple of years later, other types of everyday tasks videos started emerging, such as “clean with me” and “pack with me”.



Then, in the mid-10s, the self-improvement videos came up, mostly focused on productivity and motivation (“plan with me”, “journal with me”, “study with me”).



Finally, the last few years have seen the rise of creativity videos, with a great success of the “draw with me” and “paint with me” ones.

To give you a quantitative perspective on the trend, YouTube estimates that, since 2007, the most popular With Me videos have amassed more than 4 billion views. And that means a lot of hours spent by the audience with the creators of those videos.

Because, yes, With Me videos are not just tutorials. They are shared moments. You can learn from them, of course, and some are more tips-and-tricks oriented, such as the “pack with me” or “draw with me ones”, but the core purpose lays in that very “with me” part.

Doing something with someone else means you are not doing it alone. That there’s someone who feels boredom, stress, excitement, satisfaction exactly like you do. A shared experience creates a sense of communal understanding, of being acknowledged, of saying: “hey, I’m not the only one struggling with this/liking this”.

From the creators’ point of view, these videos are a chance to build a community and establish a closer dialogue with its members. They provide their audience with actions and experiences (so universal that seemingly anyone could participate and share them), inspiration (“you’re not alone in this”) and, most importantly, identification: they are not teaching you to do stuff (apparently), they are doing it with you.

From the platform’s point of view, With Me videos provide a great opportunity to show how much YouTube can rely on collaboration and interaction even when it comes to the production of original content (definitely a plus in the context of the streaming wars against Netflix & co.). As an example, between April and May 2020, YT Originals released a new slate of projects aimed to support, entertain and educate viewers around the world. Among these projects are titles such as Create Together #WithMe with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, where the actor invites people to showcase their art and creativity, and Stream #WithMe (UK), where a group of creators and celebrities share tips on how to keep entertained, upbeat, and active.

And from Gen Z’s point of view? Well, they get to fight loneliness through a mean that (paradoxically) is often paired with self-isolation: streaming online videos. The most evident example could be the “study with me videos”, which we’ve analysed in this case study: people connect with creators who live stream their study sessions. Very few explanations, no tips, no talk. Only a shared afternoon or evening among books and essays.

With Me videos are not just a way to find company during a boring task: they’re a medium to feel validated in one’s need to search for that company, to not feel awkward if a mundane ritual that is taken for granted is just not in our chords. And suddenly, solo activities are what brings the world closer.

Well, what do you think the With Me videos will cover next? Will other streaming platforms cater from the trend and bring it to new paths? And which other experiences do you think Gen Z will like to share “with me” next? Let us know your take!

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*source: YouTube’s Culture & Trends public repository

Methodology

They analysed a collection of videos that contained the phrase “with me” in the title. After excluding music videos (e.g., Frank Sinatra’s “Come Fly With Me”), they determined which words were most commonly paired with the phrase “with me,” such as “draw,” “study,” “travel,” etc. They then calculated the monthly views for each category of “with me” videos, since 2007 to present day.

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This is part of YAD — Understanding Young Audiences Digest: a free monthly digest on young audiences for VOD and TV professionals. We’ve analysed millions of data points and we don’t mind sharing some of them — if this could help channels and commissioners to reach Gen Z, by understanding their needs, behavioural traits and intrinsic cultural values.

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