Teen

What it means to be a teen is changing. So is the world youth live in. This issue explores how the beliefs, attitudes and behaviors of adolescents are evolving in an age of social media, climate change, and economic instability, and what these transformations mean for brands, media and institutions.

Hey, adults: What your brand needs to know about the future of teens
The author(s)
  • Matt Carmichael What the Future editor
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What the Future: Teen
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Are the kids alright? If you asked a few thousand Americans — as we did — you’d get a striking look at generational change. The milestones and institutions that define the line between adolescence and adulthood are shifting, and teen perspectives on everything from identity and relationships to employment and education are in a state of flux. No cap, as the kids say.

Teen What the Future isn’t another Gen Z report. It’s about what it means to be young in today’s world and what that might look like tomorrow. It’s also not, therefore, an issue about the future of a thing or a topic. But rather a group of humans. So, we’ll talk about where teens are today, what this cohort might look like tomorrow and what “being a teen” might look like in the future, too.

Read on for a look at how shifts in the economy, technology, and society at large are restructuring teen habits, beliefs, and mental health, what that could mean for the years to come, and why institutions, media and brands across industries should be paying close attention.

Want more foresight content? Subscribe to the What the Future newsletter for new topics each month. And join us on January 16 for our What the Future: Teen companion webinar, which will guide you through the latest data, interviews and brand implications.

Register for our webinar now

For full results, please refer to the annotated questionnaire


Letter from the Editor


Teens aren’t what you think anymore. Here’s why you need a new playbook

Matt Carmichael, What the Future editor, head of the Ipsos Trends & Foresight Lab

What the Future: Teen | Matt Carmichael


Interviews & Features


What kind of futurist are you? Take our quiz!

Ipsos' Christopher Good using Ipsos Facto

What the Future: Teen

Teen futurist horoscope

Ipsos' Christopher Good using Ipsos Facto

What the Future: Teen

Teen and brand relationships might stay complicated

Robin Watson, head of YouTube Creative, Global Product Solutions

What the Future: Teen | Robin Watson

How fragmented youth identities will shape brand strategy

Shivani Gorle, senior manager, Audience Impact & Intelligence, Paramount Advertising

What the Future: Teen | Shivani Gorle

How the desire for social bonds shapes teen viewership

Brand insights from Ipsos’ Amber Jawaid

What the Future: Teen | Amber Jawaid

How to fill gaps in teen mental health and social media research

Barb Solish, national director in the Office of Innovation at NAMI

What the Future: Teen | Barb Solish

How AI will globalize the creator economy

Kaley Mullin, Youth & Trends Insights Lead, YouTube

What the Future: Teen | Kaley Mullin

Why gaming culture needs to evolve for everyone

Brand insights with Ipsos’ Chris Hoffman

What the Future: Teen | Chris Hoffman

How a new mindset is taking shape among young startups

Justin Massa, senior vice president of Enterprise Services at Newlab

What the Future: Teen | Justin Massa

What changing attitudes on college mean for the workforce

Brand insights from Ipsos’ Jennifer Torgersen

What the Future: Teen | Jennifer Torgersen

How teens are taking charge to improve their gloomy futures

Eva Lighthiser, plaintiff, Held v. State of Montana

What the Future: Teen | Eva Lighthiser

Future Jobs to Be Done

Brand insights from Ipsos’ Charlotte Morris

What the Future: Teen | Charlotte Morris


  

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Teens aren’t what you think anymore. Here’s why you need a new playbook

 

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The author(s)
  • Matt Carmichael What the Future editor