The audiovisual industry is preparing to adapt to the behavior of an audience that has been closely studied for its behavior on social networks, but not so much in terms of its consumption of films, series, entertainment programs or information spaces.
These are the so-called iPap kids (iPad kids) and screenagers (a neologism that can be translated as pantallescentes, fusion of screens and adolescents). Both professionals and analysts have been collecting data on the habits and preferences of minors in 2.0 media such as YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat or TikTok for years.
However, they hardly have reliable information and solid references about what researcher Chang Su calls “compulsive viewing” in an article published in the journal Advances in economics management and political sciences regarding this audience’s approach to Netflix.
Experts like this scientist highlight that both iPad kids and screenagers appreciate the efforts of streaming platforms to “promote original content” and provide them with a “personalized experience.” These two factors, in his opinion, keep these viewers away – almost definitively – from traditional channels and networks.
However, there are dangers that must be faced, such as “loneliness” and “a low degree of cognitive function” of users. At this point, the threats to iPad kids and screens do coincide on the networks, on the one hand, and on-demand television -Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney, HBO Max or Hulu-, on the other.
Be that as it may, Professor Kym Simoncini, from the Queensland University of Technology, in Australia, insists that the fault lies neither with the manufacturers nor with the creators or distributors of content. What could really reverse the situation would be for the parents of these boys to talk – more and better – with them.
The word screenager is so common inside and outside the communication sector that dictionaries such as Oxford or Collins have incorporated it into their repertoire. This is how Irene, a 15-year-old Barcelona resident in Ohio (United States), sees herself and her North American friends: “We are web-savvy young people who spend a lot of time in front of screens: phone, tablet, console, computer or smart phone. TV”.
An iPad kid is characterized by not leaving the house if it is not necessary. You are always online, however, you are not connected to your mobile, but to your touch tablet. From Apple, of course. Specialists observe them practically as addicts, since they react with screams and tantrums when they are deprived of their devices.
They experience the interruption of their games or communications as a tragedy. The same thing happens if they are prevented from knowing how an episode of a series ends because it is time to eat, study or go to sleep. Are professionals prepared to produce audiovisual artifacts for such an anxious and dispersed group? They admit they don’t. For that reason, they have already gotten to work.
