Fortnite and Rising Platforms Redefining Youth Culture
Original insights from our keynote at Youth Marketing Strategy NYC, exploring the Fortnite phenomenon.
Emergent platforms such as Fortnite and TikTok are evolving to catalyze authentic connection in digital spaces, allowing teens to express “who I am now” and connect on a level that is more uncurated and unfiltered.
Last week at Youth Marketing Strategy NYC, our own Jon Penn, CEO, National Research Group, presented our think tank’s expansive study on the Fortnite phenomenon.
We set out to answer one big question: What do platforms like Fortnite tell us about teen identity, community and culture?
Before social media, we had social capital.
Our times are more polarized and divided than ever. Teens look at our politicians, and 8 in 10 question what we stand for as a nation. Many studies demonstrate that social activities for teens are in rapid decline in the last decade. Participation in teen sports is down, and outside of play, teens are joining less clubs like boy scouts and girl scouts. Even unstructured time “in the real world” like attending parties is significantly lower than previous generations.
It would be easy to blame the astounding 9 hours a day of screen time for the decline in teen cultural life, but more important to ask: what are teens getting from the digital world they’re not getting from the physical one?
Teens are looking for third places — safe spaces — where they can be themselves.
They thought it would be social media. But there are real-world consequences for being yourself there — it’s about status, and it’s competitive.
With polarization and divisiveness seemingly defining our culture, the next generation is hungry for “third places” where community, inclusivity, creativity and authentic relationships can thrive.
While some people might think community is breaking down, others recognize emergent spaces for deep connection online…like Fortnite, the number one platform tweens tell us they’re plugging into more this year than last.
“We compete with (and lose to) Fortnite more than HBO.” — Reed Hastings, CEO, Netflix
Fortnite has amassed a very loyal audience, very quickly. It’s long caught the attention of media executives, but when Reed Hastings said, “we compete with (and lose to) Fortnite more than HBO,” we lasered in to find out why.
In fact, 10–17 year-old weekly players tell us they’re spending 25% of all their free time on Fortnite, stealing two hours a day away from everything else.
In under two years, Fortnite has gained over 250 million players globally. 60% of teens say its on the way up — twice as high as the momentum legacy social media have. For tweens, Fortnite is the number 1 platform they say they’re using more in 2019 than 2018.
What’s driving them to spend more and more time in this unique space?
Teens tell us that the platforms with the most positive impact on their lives are community-centered platforms, YouTube and Fortnite — a key metric where social media leaders actually rank weakest. In fact, 85% of teens say that playing Fortnite has a positive impact on their life, 20 points ahead of social media.
Yet, all too often we find that the more plugged in we are, the less connected we feel. How does Fortnite offer a deeper sense of meaning?
Our research suggests that unlike other platforms and services, Fortnite uniquely bridges the emotional benefits of gaming, social media and streaming in a singular experience.
Teens say it’s the best place to be my authentic self and to connect to what everyone is talking about, making me feel like I’m not alone.
From our perspective, Fortnite signals the future of entertainment. It offers the best of all entertainment that’s out there. It’s free, like broadcast TV; there’s user-generated content, like in the creator space on YouTube; there’s a deep sense of social interaction that was the promise of social media; there’s subscriptions with the Battle Royale pass like you get with streaming; there’s different seasons of play like the linear TV model. It is live and competitive, just like sports, which dominate TV ratings; and it’s highly accessible — you can play it anywhere, on any device.
When we think about the future of gaming, it’s moving towards the cloud, and Fortnite is the first game to get there on mass scale.
We’ve developed a framework we call “the 4 C’s” — Community, Competition, Creativity and Control — the keys to unlock meaning in our interactive experiences.
First, we have the Community and Competition continuum. Community is about teamwork and working towards a common goal; it’s about feeling part of something bigger than yourself. Competition is about going head-to-head, being recognized as skilled, and getting “props” from the community.
While they might seem like opposing need states, Community and Competition complement each other through active participation. Bear in mind that conversation is the main activity inside a third place, and dialogue is often driven by play.
It’s the simple act of play that creates the new form of social capital.
We see Creativity and Control as a panacea to the “picture perfect” world of social media. Creativity is about self-expression — creating an imperfect world and sharing it with others. Control, ironically, is about letting go. It’s about moving beyond one win-state, and not being afraid to fail.
Creativity and Control are both about experimentation. Come as you are, play as you want.
These four pillars are redefining how teens live in third places.
Fortnite represents the ultimate, though unlikely, combination of ingredients to its success.
Fortnite is a universe full of interesting paradoxes: it’s a competitive game that fosters deep community; it’s an immersive experience centered around social connection. It’s a playground to be anybody — with over 200 avatars to choose from — yet it’s where we have the freedom to be our true authentic selves.
And because of these paradoxes, Fortnite is connecting with teens in a way that legacy social media platforms are not.
7 in 10 teens say Fortnite increases confidence — twice as much as legacy social media. 8 in 10 say Fortnite helps me forget my real life problems — 4x as much as legacy social media. 7 in 10 say Fortnite is a safe place free from bullying — double the legacy social media platforms.
So why do we see teens playing, watching others play, living and chatting in the lobbies on Fortnite, or in the comments on Twitch?
Platforms like Fortnite aren’t only changing behaviors, they’re forging a new set of values:
- Fortnite is about active participation, not just sharing.
- It’s about social experimentation, not just building a personal brand. It’s about expression free from consequence.
It’s in Fortnite where teens are discovering and asserting who they are.
Today, we see kids finding their sense of place in a virtual world, not the physical one.
Discover more in our full report: www.nationalresearchgroup.com/news/fortnite-the-new-social-media
