A brief dive into the current nature of Social Media content, along with the possible influences that brought us to this current state.
We see more strange content on social media now. It’s almost like a joke where the setup is: “Look how weird and nonsensical this is” and the punchline is: “This is actually real.” The strongest example of this is what’s happening on the Nutter Butter Instagram and Tiktok pages. Nutter Butter, our main example, differs from other major brands. Most companies’ social media pages have appealing material that draws customers in and use memes to be more relatable and human. But Nutter Butter posts fever-dream-like content that is intentionally confusing. We can explain this trend with two main factors: why people thought it up and why companies allow it on their accounts.
Where the weirdness comes from
“Gen-Z humor” is the blanket term that covers the new meta of “strange=funny.” Most signs point to this coming from Adult Swim. Gen-Z is currently 12-27 years old. Most younger individuals in the creative world grew up with shows like Tim and Eric Awesome Show, The Eric Andre Show, and Check it Out! With Dr. Steve Brule. These shows, paired with the timing of meme culture, made Adult Swim sketches perfect for memes. So we know why memes got to their current status and why Gen-Z thinks this stuff is funny. But why do companies allow it on their branded content?
Why Companies allow Weird Social Media Content on their Official Pages
Younger individuals (20-29) make up the highest demographic of social media users,. When a brand wants to reach as many people as possible, it makes sense to create content that reaches the largest group of users. Gen-Z employees who manage social media can use their creativity and understanding of what other Gen-Z-ers are looking for. Adult Swim is still thriving and is one of the most successful cable television networks. Smiling Friends was the #1 show on television when season 2 was airing. Whoever is in charge of social media for a brand understands that awareness is the number one goal on the AIDA Model and Sales Funnel. They also understand what will get the most people to watch and what people will spread the most.
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