Where previous generations celebrated a new album by listening in private, today's teens broadcast their cultural participation to the world. When they discover a new song, they don't just listen to it. They create a lip-sync video, add effects, layer in memes, and share it with thousands of people. They become part of the song's story.

For Gen Z, creativity is a language, a means of communication, an expression of identity, and a way to build a sense of belonging. This is most clear in a new cultural phenomenon researchers are calling "Creative Maximalism."

What is driving this shift? And more importantly, what does this transformation mean for the future of content, marketing, and the internet itself?

Unpacking the Change: The YouTube Culture & Trends Study

To answer these questions, the YouTube Culture & Trends team conducted one of the most extensive studies of digital behavior to date. They analyzed hundreds of trends from the past year across top global markets and surveyed thousands of people aged 14-49, the exact demographic shaping the internet's present and future.

Their research confirmed the profound impact of this generation:

• A Striking View of Influence: In the US, a significant 66% of 14 - to 24-year-olds believe their age group has a significant impact on online conversations. This contrasts sharply with only 49% of adults aged 25-49 who feel the same way.

The report identifies a new creative aesthetic: maximalist, participatory, globally influenced, and deeply referential. It is complex, dense, and often confusing to those unfamiliar with it. But for those who speak the language, it is the most authentic and expressive form available.

Generational Context: Post-YouTube, Post-Minecraft, Post-Gangnam Style

To understand Gen Z's unique style of creation, we must look at the digital world in which they grew up.

By 2025, YouTube will celebrate its 20th anniversary, marking the moment an entire generation came of age, never knowing a world without it. As the report notes, they are post-YouTube, post-Minecraft, and post-Gangnam Style.

• YouTube as a Primary Institution: Gen Z spends 54% more time on social platforms and user-generated content, and 26% less time watching traditional TV and movies compared to the average person (Deloitte 2025). They are more excited to see new content from creators than from Hollywood studios.

Why this significant migration? Research from the National Research Group found that less than one-third of young people felt traditional media accurately depicted their world. Social media, video games, school, and family life all felt misrepresented. When the stories on screen don't reflect the life you're living, you stop watching and start creating instead.

This environment gave rise to Creative Maximalism: a world where young people possess the tools, the distribution, and the essential need to create content that authentically represents them, using a visual language shaped by the digital worlds they inhabit.

Creative Maximalism: The Four Pillars of Gen Z Creativity

The research identified four key elements defining this new type of content:

1. Audio/Visual Complexity: Densely layered information and faster-paced editing;

2. Narrative Co-creation: Public-generated, massive, decentralized entertainment properties with immense casts of characters and voluminous storylines;

3. Internet-Referential: Humor and ideas built on layers of online inside jokes;

4. Globally Influenced: A seamless blend of cultural references from around the world.

1. Audio/Visual Complexity: More Information, Faster

Gen Z is drawn to content that packs multiple layers of information into a single frame. Multiple videos play at once. Emoji dance instructions overlay choreography. The hyper-paced editing creates a rhythm that can be dizzying for older audiences. The visual density common in video game heads-up displays (HUDs) is now a feature of everyday content.

The democratization of editing tools means everyone can produce complex visuals. This generation, raised on the intense visual stimulation of video games and anime, is primed to process and produce content in this style.

Example: "Skibidi Toilet." This machinima series follows a bizarre war between toilets with human heads and humanoid figures. Its fast-paced editing and staggering scale are prime examples of visual complexity. The series has generated over 4 million related video uploads and amassed 46.3 million subscribers.

But there's a deeper reason behind this maximalist approach. Attention spans have dramatically decreased in the digital age. In an environment where thousands of pieces of content compete for every second of viewer attention, creators have adapted by doing more. More visual layers. More rapid cuts. More simultaneous information streams. The content that captures and holds attention is the content that gives viewers multiple reasons to stay engaged at once. Every element on screen is fighting to keep you from scrolling to the next video.

2. Narrative Co-creation: The Audience Becomes the Creator

Raised on participatory "remix" culture, Gen Z gravitates toward media that encourages their input through fan art, fan theories, and collaborative world-building.

The result is massively popular entertainment properties created not by studios, but by the public: the SCP Foundation, Backrooms, and, in 2025, Italian brain rot. These decentralized narratives feature sprawling casts of characters and voluminous storylines that no single creator controls.

Example: "EPIC: The Musical." Composer Jorge Rivera-Herras' adaptation of "The Odyssey" began as a college thesis and became a viral phenomenon with over 115 million views. Rivera-Herrans empowered his community by having them vote on casting decisions and commissioning animated music videos from fans.

According to the survey, 25% of Gen Z contributed to the creation of an online content series or other creator project in the past 12 months.

3. Internet-Referential: Fluency as Currency

Today's viral content is increasingly layered with inside jokes and references drawn from years of internet culture. This creates a maximalist style that resonates powerfully with insiders but can feel entirely inaccessible for outsiders.

Consider the Cat Meme Cinematic Universe, where narrative content relies on viewer familiarity with an extensive cast of meme characters (like Keyboard Cat, Grumpy Cat, and dozens more), each used to convey specific emotions. This ecosystem recently gave birth to "Spinning Cat," a hit song that reached #11 on YouTube's global music charts.

The deeper truth: fluency demonstrates a sense of belonging. The more references you understand, the more you belong. This is not merely about entertainment; it's a profound method of community-building.

Gen Z is increasingly shifting away from broadcast-style social media toward private spaces, such as direct messages (DMs), group chats, close friend stories. Their circles of trust are shrinking to personal connections, inclusive subcultures, and niche communities where they can connect over deeper interests. This migration away from broadcast-style social media toward intimate, interest-based communities makes referential content even more powerful. Inside jokes aren't just entertainment; they're the social glue that defines who's in and who's out.

This explains the rise of community-based platforms like Goodreads for book lovers, Letterboxd for film fans, and Serializd for TV enthusiasts. These spaces thrive precisely because they're built around shared fluency. Understanding film theory references. Recognizing specific book tropes. Debating character arcs with people who've consumed the same content. 

• 62% of Gen Z use language or slang they picked up from videos or memes.

• 58% say the internet has shaped their sense of humor.

When you speak the language, you are part of the tribe.

4. Global Influence: The World in Every Frame

Gen Z grew up with the entire world's entertainment available at their fingertips, aided by auto-translated captions and the ease of researching non-native references. This has cultivated a deep appreciation for content outside their native culture, which now directly shapes what they watch and create.

Examples of global trends that transcended borders in 2025:

• Le poisson Steve from France: a lo-fi hand-animated dancing fish with a catchy French tune that accumulated over 90 million views.

• Brazilian phonk: a genre that traces its roots from Southern US hip-hop to Eastern European dance music before being remixed in Brazil, showing how trends don't just cross cultures but evolve along the way.

• "Alien Stage": a South Korean animated series about a deadly singing competition on an alien planet, which captivated a worldwide fanbase, with the United States contributing the most significant portion of views.

• Nani Ga Suki (AiScream) from Japan: a quirky beat with simple, memorable lyrics allowed creators worldwide to adapt the song into their own content niches with minimal language barrier.

The Numbers That Can't Be Ignored: A Reality Check

The magnitude of Gen Z's digital presence is undeniable. In Romania, Gen Z's screen time ranges from 4 to 8 hours per day, averaging around 6 hours, which equates to approximately 101 days per year. We're spending nearly one-third of our year with our eyes glued to screens.

Now, whether this is healthy, sustainable, or something we should be concerned about, that's a conversation for another day. For the majority of them, those 101 days aren't wasted time. They're where life happens. That's where they form friendships, discover music, learn new skills, and build communities. 

What This Means for Content Creators and Marketers

For Content Creators:

1. Stop broadcasting. Start collaborating. The days of one-way content are over. Build spaces for fan theories, encourage remixes, ask for input, and commission fan art. The creators who thrive aren't those with the most polished content

2. Embrace visual complexity. Layer your content, experiment with fast-paced editing, and don't be afraid to put multiple elements on screen simultaneously. Your audience can handle it. They've been training for this their entire lives. 

3. Build your own reference library. Internet-referential content creates community, but you can't fake fluency. Immerse yourself in the digital cultures your audience inhabits. Understand the memes, follow the trends, and participate genuinely. Then create content that adds to the conversation.

4. Think global from day one. Your audience doesn't see borders, so your content shouldn't either. A French audio clip, a Korean animation style, a Brazilian music genre – these are all simply ingredients for a globally-aware generation.

For Marketers:

1. Digital spaces are real life. For Gen Z, digital spaces are not secondary to the physical world; they are the foundation of their lives. Your brand strategy cannot treat digital as just another channel; it must be the core of your engagement.

2. Learn the language, don't copy it. Brands like Nutter Butter and the NFL are successfully adopting Creative Maximalism because they understand the culture, not just the aesthetic. Don't hire an intern to "make it go viral." Invest in understanding the communities you're trying to reach. Study the reference points. Respect the inside jokes and earn your place in the conversation.

3. Build for co-creation. Launch products, campaigns, or content that invite audience participation and engagement. Give Gen Z the tools and permission to make your brand their own. The most successful brands will be those that become platforms for creativity rather than just products to consume.

4. Focus on communities. Gen Z is retreating to smaller, interest-based communities. A million passive followers is less valuable than 10,000 engaged community members who feel a sense of ownership over your brand and speak its language.

Stay Fluent in the Language of Tomorrow with JUNE Communications

At JUNE Communications, we guide brands and creators through the rapidly evolving digital landscape where Gen Z is rewriting all the rules of engagement.

Partner with us to access strategic insights, cultural expertise, and actionable guidance that ensure your brand stays fluent in the creative conversations shaping the future.