To slay or to flop? These days, popular content on reels, tiktok trends and more are heavily based around Gen Z’s wacky, absurdist and at times nihilistic sense of humor. As a member of this generation myself, I’ll be discussing the type of video editing style, humor, and references that current high schoolers – and future university students – are loving. We’ll lock in to learn about which apps, editing softwares, and content styles create the best aura to engage a generation evermore drawn to short-form content. I’ll use case studies and my own experiences to explore different editing styles, authenticity over advertising, short form content, and more. Finally, we’ll end the session with a short interactive game – Slang Translation, to learn about all the newest Gen Z slang and phrases.

Learning objectives for this session include:

• Understand Gen Z’s eccentric sense of humor and how to incorporate that into trends and posts for social media marketing
• Explore different editing styles – from quirky to aesthetic to sleek – and when to use each one
• Assess the rise of short form content amongst gen z social media users and know when (and where) to post short form vs long form
• Explore authenticity over advertising ; rise of “relatable” content
• Learn how to engage & interact with Gen Z on Instagram