Generation Z and Generation Alpha were born into a world of information and networks. The internet handed them everything from recent disasters to artist scandals. Leaving them with the lives and aesthetics of everyone in the world except their own.
Nothing on the internet belongs to individuals no matter how many copyright strikes are made, placing the kids raised off of technology with only one opportunity to feel as if they own a piece of the world around them: Physical media.
Vinyls, CD’s, books, and magazines are becoming increasingly popular amongst the newer generations in the United States. Despite the elevated inconvenience of flipping a record as opposed to clicking a button, people are still spending their time and money on rigid plastic discs rather than a simple online subscription.
A video on the internet will be seen once and scrolled past as quickly, while physical media will be in the same person’s life until they choose to remove it. This can help to contribute a sense of control for people who were born into a world they feel they have little to no control over. A feeling emphasized by significant generational events such as COVID-19.
In Missoula, Montana there is a large hippie or retro air to the city demonstrated with places like the Hip-strip and various vintage shops being popular with locals. This provides the town with a large culture around physical media with stores like Rockn’ Rudy’s having some of its largest purchases coming from vinyls, CDs, and cassettes.
In 2023, young adults reported stress levels more than 25% higher than other adults in the United States. Having a piece of media to allow for slower consumption than the constant flood of information on social media and the internet, helps to lower these rates.
Physical media has also become a large piece of aesthetics. A reading aesthetic with a large book collection or a retro aesthetic listening to cassette tapes.
While this allows the younger generations to feel a sense of self, it also provides a space to disconnect from the world around them. Technology allows for constant communication with or without a desire for it. Whereas a novel or magazine, gives room for someone to understand others only when actively searched for.
The modern world is constantly moving, something is always happening online. On the other hand, nearly all forms of tangible media take time to engage with; a book forces you to slow down and read each word, a record or CD makes you sit with one album until it ends.
The chance to slow down and breathe in an ever going world is rare, and that opportunity for relaxation might be exactly what the youth are searching for in the avenues they’re consuming.
Physical media sales, while being far from their former glory, are rising from the past decade. They are playing a large role in giving the youth a sense of control and satisfaction. In a world swarming with information taking time to slow down and properly sort through it all could be exactly what everyone needs to understand what they are seeing.
