355. YPulse. Tweens.
March 20, 2025
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In this episode MaryLeigh Bliss, Chief Content Officer at YPulse, discusses YPulse’s newly released report on tweens. The conversation delves into the behaviors and preferences of 8 to 12-year-olds, a demographic notoriously challenging to survey. The report uncovers key findings on tweens' tech-savvy upbringing, social media habits, surprising interests, and what these characteristics mean for marketers aiming to connect with this generation.
Takeaways include:
Tech-Savvy Natives: Today's tweens have grown up in a world where technology like YouTube, smartphones, and social media have always existed. These are not advancements to them; they are everyday norms.
Digital Babysitting: Millennial parents are highly involved in their tweens' digital lives, often monitoring screen time and approving content. This "digital babysitting" reflects concerns about the impact of technology.
Social Media as Entertainment: For tweens, social media platforms like YouTube and TikTok are primarily for entertainment, rather than keeping up with friends. YouTube reigns supreme as their top platform.
Influencer Influence: Influencers have a significant impact on tweens, with many wanting to buy products recommended by online personalities.
Gaming and Digital Products: Gaming is a significant hobby and social space for tweens. They actively purchase digital products for their avatars and engage in virtual worlds like Fortnite and Roblox.
Diverse Content Matters: Tweens prefer content that showcases diversity in race, abilities, and identities, reflecting their own diverse world.
Parents Still Involved: Despite their digital lives, tweens still participate in offline activities like sports, and parents remain highly involved in supervising their online and offline experiences.
YPulse is the leading authority on Millennials and Gen Z: tweens, teens, college students and young adults. They provide strategic insight to companies and organizations via their subscription-based syndicated research content as well as their custom research and consulting services. Staffed with a cross-functional team of researchers, marketers, writers, and technologists, they give their clients a 360-degree view of what it’s like to be a Millennial or Gen Z today.
As Chief Content Officer, MaryLeigh Bliss oversees YPulse’s syndicated products. Her role also involves acting as a culture and youth insights expert, consulting with brands to identify actionable insights, align young consumer strategy, and layer generational and youth knowledge over data findings.
MaryLeigh has worked with a range of brands, including Facebook, Hampton, Bravo, HBO, Target, Best Buy, and Gap, and has been quoted as a youth insights authority by publications including The New York Times, Digiday, Business Insider, and Adweek. She has appeared as a Gen Z and Millennial expert on Bloomberg News, Fortune, and NPR Marketplace, and been a speaker at many off-sites and conferences. MaryLeigh’s interest in youth culture originated from her love of YA literature and pop culture anthropology, and she is continuing her passion for decoding and demystifying the next generations of consumers at YPulse.
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MaryLeigh Bliss
YPulse