• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, April 28, 2025

If you haven't already seen it, I recommend watching the four-episode "Adolescence" series on Netflix. It's heart-breaking and it's been haunting me ever since. But it also is perhaps the greatest cinematic parable of the alienating and desensitizing nature of modern media is having on young people.

Electronic media has long had that effect, but it's been incremental and I'm glad I only grew up in the Baby Boomer's boob tube generation, and that I raised my Millennial kids in what was mostly the pre-/early internet era.

As desensitizing as early digital games and online content were, my kids weren't raised with super powered digital devices in their pockets, and they didn't have a computer access behind the closed doors of their bedrooms.

Honestly, I don't know how Millennial parents of today do it, and what the long-term impact of the "multiverse" will be on Gen Alpha going forward, but there's some solace in a new study released today by Horizon Media that suggests we might be moving back to something we lost since the birth of the digital age: family time.

The report --"The New Media Multiverse" -- was produced by Horizon's Blue Hour Studios and WHY Research unit. Its subhead -- "How Alpha-Millennial Families Are Redefining Media, Commerce and Culture, Together" -- says it all, but I suggest you read it yourself, because on the one hand, it makes the case that today's youth is evolving in an era of digital steroids, but also shows they and their parents are adapting in new and necessary ways.

Or perhaps it's just a return to an older way that we somehow lost: parents and children working together to moderate and put some perspective on their multi-variant media time.

In case you don't have time to read it, I clipped the chart above to show you the simple X/Y axis Horizon uses to plot Gen Alpha's "me" vs. "we" time spent across the multiverse. It's a great eye chart and worth pondering.

"This isn’t just a generational shift," says Blue Hour Head of Strategy Matt Higgins, adding: "It’s a preview of where everything will move. Alpha-Millennial households are living inside a new consumption model and signal what's ahead for all consumers: multi-platform, interest-driven, and accelerated. Brands that understand and adapt to these new realities now will have a significant competitive advantage in the next decade.”

Aside from benchmarking the new media family time, the report identifies six key "imperatives" about evolving media consumption, including:

1. Decision Influence in the Home Has Been Decentralized

The data shows traditional top-down influence models are obsolete, and 77% of Millennial parents believe "my child/children are more influential in determining purchases than I was to my parents.” This shift extends beyond family dynamics, suggesting all marketing approaches must evolve from targeting single decision-makers to engaging multiple influence points simultaneously.

2. Connected, Multi-Platform Engagement Is the New Normal

59% of parents said, “their child uses more than one screen simultaneously.” Media consumption now happens across multiple screens simultaneously, creating a unified rather than fragmented experience. This signals the end of single-channel campaign strategies, as audiences increasingly expect seamless experiences that flow across platforms.

3. Nostalgic Formats Foster Trust and Cross-Generational Engagement

Nostalgic content isn’t a throwback, it’s the connective tissue between generations. When building shared experiences, 84% of respondents gravitate toward familiar, nostalgic formats. This finding highlights the strategic importance of incorporating established formats into new media strategies to build trust and engagement across audience segments.

4. Collective Curation Is Replacing Algorithmic Isolation

The study revealed 82% of content discovery now happens through shared interests rather than solely based on individualized algorithms. This marks a shift from hyper-personalization back toward community-driven discovery, suggesting marketers must build strategies that facilitate shared content experiences.

5. Interest-Based Influence Surpasses Popularity

For 76% of respondents, content relevance outweighs creator popularity when determining influence. This signals a fundamental shift in influencer strategy from mass-reach personalities toward niche expertise and authentic content alignment.

6. Gaming Platforms Function as Social Infrastructure

Eighty percent of respondents believe gaming environments are primarily for social interaction rather than gameplay, these platforms have evolved into critical social ecosystems. This represents a strategic opportunity for brands to engage through participation rather than interruption.

I recommend you read the full report. Then go watch all four episodes of "Adolescence."