What to expect from Gen Alpha
Generation Alpha. This 2-billion cohort is still in primary school yet we already study their habits, their differences from Gen Z, and their consumer behavior. After 2040, this generation will have enormous political and economic power. So who are they?
When the oldest members of Generation Alpha were born in 2011, Instagram and iPads were already widespread. From 2023 hindsight, we cringe at unblurred kids’ pictures online posted by their influencer parents. For those born in the 2010s, this was not the case. These kids grew up with phones and tablets in their faces. They were either recorded while doing something completely normal, or they were distracted with an iPad. The Internet does not forget anything, and when Generation Alpha starts joining the workforce, the background checks employers will be able to conduct will have wide potential, from checking when someone’s Mom posted “He said his first word!” (wouldn’t it be cool to only hire former bright kids?) to making sure that your employee did not play violent video games as a child.
What makes it better is that Gen Alpha’s parents are largely Gen Z and Millenials who also grew up with some form of the Internet and social media and who know just how important your presentation in this space can be. That is why Generation Alpha understands Internet safety better than anyone else; they might not know how to download music or set up an email account, but they know better than to post their real faces and names on the Internet. In a way, this Generation is creating online avatars before we have the widespread technology to do so.
This extreme privacy was something that initially drew me into the subject. A Gen Alpha-er that I know is a famous influencer with thousands of subscribers and hundreds of thousands of views. Her blog is about makeup yet none of her blog posts on various social media show her picture. And this is not just her; I’ve seen others conceal their identity as well.
This privacy is not necessarily taught by parents but by social media itself. TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook, and other platforms only allow kids to join starting at 13. Because the oldest Gen Alpha members will turn 13 this year, we cannot say if they will suddenly change their social media presence. I think not, and Coco Mocoe agrees.
Because of longer screen time, Covid’s remote schooling, and future remote work, Generation Alpha will be less social. However, it not necessarily means m0re lonely. The digital space becomes as, if not more, important than the real space. These children have their own interactive apps, game avatars, and online blogs, making offline relationships seem redundant and too complex. Even if Gen Alpha do meet offline, they engage in online activities like playing, doing blog collaborations, or online shopping.
When Gen Alpha goes to school and college, they will most likely learn specific skills instead of taking lengthy courses. They will also become empowering emotionally intelligent leaders who easily adapt to changing market trends. The belief in the world’s stability will be considered ridiculous as these kids would grow up among Covid, AI advancements, and the financial crisis. Generation Alpha is less likely to go to the university or even have a dream job as a child. When I ask my Gen Alpha-er who she wants to work as when she grows up, she replies “Well, what will make me the most money?”
Overall, I am a big fan of Generation Alpha: adaptable, independent, and, yes, completely unhinged. The only thing that confuses me is these kids’ lack of idea that what they see online is not a reflection of everything that exists but a carefully curated personalized feed. As consumers, Gen Alpha orient themselves by what the influencers are promoting and how many of their online friends already bought it. While Millenials and Gen Z are raising red flags about the Internet’s growing rate of subjectivity which results in political, economic, and cultural crises, Gen Alpha seems to not mind customization at all.
When the world has more information than what you could possibly consume in a million years, a little customization doesn’t hurt. I just hope that Gen Alpha will carefully choose how, when, and who decides what they see online.