Say goodbye to traditional media — the future of TV is user-generated. Earlier this month, Nielsen released a report revealing that YouTube topped TV viewership at 9.7% — the largest share ever recorded for any streaming service, including Netflix and Disney+. The 20-year-old platform has successfully pivoted from more than just a phone app or a website for people to sink time into, and become a legitimate form of entertainment prioritized over traditional streaming.

Why are people gravitating towards user-generated content? Experts have been lookinginto why user-based platforms like YouTube and TikTok have become so popular, and have found that younger internet users use those platforms as search engines and online encyclopedias. Jasmine Enberg, a senior social media analyst at Emarketer, attributes this trend to a lack of trust in traditional media sources, instead putting their faith in like-minded individuals for analysis of things they see in the news, including social issues, pop culture, and entertainment.

16% of teens used YouTube “almost constantly”, a Pew Research Center survey showed, with 17% saying the same of TikTok. And traditionally, entertainment was a one-way street — professional creators produced content, and audiences consumed it. The rise of social media and accessible creation tools has democratized entertainment, giving everyone a platform to become a content creator. This has resonated especially with Gen Z, a generation that has grown up with these tools, and considers content creation an intrinsic part of self-expression.

But younger viewers have started taking matters into their own hands, increasingly becoming creators instead of consumers. The Washington Post reports that while the previous rule of thumb was that only one in ten users posted content, now 65% of young internet users aged 14-24 consider themselves content creators.

While the entertainment industry initially viewed social media as tools to promote their own material, as it stands, their content now fuels the popularity of those platforms. Fans of media on streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ will flock to YouTube and TikTok to consume supplemental content generated by other users, viewing discussions and critiques being created in response to TV shows and movies. Youtube’s Culture & Trends director Kevin Allocca finds the evolution of how traditional media is being consumed to be fascinating. “[Gen Z is] actively moving audience behavior from passive viewing to finding and adding their voices to a unique content ‘dialogue’.”

Participation points: TikTok’s short-form videos have ignited a new era on the internet, where content creation is more accessible than ever. This platform allows those who would have been casual viewers to participate in and interact with other content by providing user-friendly video editing tools. Features like duets and stitches further fuel participation by letting users directly engage with each other’s videos, transforming viewers into active contributors.

Recognizing this trend, platforms like YouTube and Instagram are playing catch-up with similar features to stay competitive. These features include intuitive editing tools and vast music libraries that make adding soundtracks easy without a video-editing suite, allowing people to post high-quality videos with minimal effort at a low barrier entry.

What does this mean for the future of viewership? Easy access participation won’t just impact traditional media — it also means that entertainment as we currently consume it will be ever-shifting. As more viewers turn to content creation, garnering views could become more competitive. The democratization of content creation may mean that lines between viewer and creator will continue to blur, with content creators becoming more audience-responsive and hyper-targeted, letting their viewers dictate and shape the content they consume.

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