This week in social media news from the Cannes Lions Festival, YouTube releases its 2022 Culture & Trends Report, Meta debuts two new Horizon Worlds, Snapchat and British Vogue unveil an AR exhibition and more.

YouTube Finds Gen Z Prefer Personally Relevant Content More Than Viral Content

According to YouTube’s 2022 Culture & Trends Report—which the platform released at the Cannes Lions Festival and includes an analysis of hundreds of trends and Ipsos surveys worldwide—pop culture is becoming more individualized as indicated by 65 percent of Gen Z who agree that content that’s personally relevant to them is more important than content that goes viral. In addition, 78 percent of people agree that they use YouTube because it serves them with content that’s personally relevant to them.

Why it matters: Pop culture is morphing into internet culture and YouTube says three main things are driving its evolution. First, that fan communities that once used to be a side effect of entertainment are now central to the entertainment experience. Second, the production and consumption of remixable content like memes is a key way young generations are participating in pop culture. And third, comforting and nostalgic content has become increasingly valuable for young viewers.

The details: Here’s a list of key findings from YouTube’s report:

  • 85 percent of Gen Z have posted video content online
  • 55 percent of Gen Z agree that they watch content no one they know personally is interested in
  • 61 percent of Gen Z agree that they would describe themselves as a really big or super fan of someone or something
  • 63 percent of Gen Z followed one or more meme accounts in the past 12 months
  • 59 percent of Gen Z agree that they use short-form video apps to discover things that they then watch longer versions of
  • 90 percent of Gen Z have watched a video that helped them feel like they were in a different place
  • 83 percent of Gen Z have used YouTube to watch soothing content that helps them relax
  • 69 percent of Gen Z agree they often find themselves returning to creators or content that feels comforting to them
  • 82 percent of Gen Z have used YouTube to watch content in order to feel nostalgic
  • 53 percent of Gen Z agree that online horror content appeals to them

Meta Debuts Two New Horizon Worlds At Cannes

Meta returned to the Cannes Lions Festival to showcase its shift from mobile to the metaverse and reveal two new Meta Horizon Worlds— MINIVerse in collaboration with BMW’s brand MINI and Fender’s Stratoverse in partnership with Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.

Why it matters: Meta’s new worlds are prime examples of how brands are taking their first steps into the metaverse.

The details: MINI’s MINIVerse, the brand’s first foray into the metaverse, offers four drivers the opportunity to race customizable MINI go-karts on a gravity-defying track.

The Fender Stratosphere Horizon World is a guitar-shaped island hovering high in the sky and features a first-of-its-kind co-play audio experience that allows visitors to create original music riffs. They can also go on a virtual scavenger hunt for chords that can be used to create special combinations of music.

The new Meta Horizon Worlds by MINI and Fender, which were created in collaboration with Meta’s Creative Shop, are available to all US, Canada and UK Meta Quest 2 Headset users. Visitors of the company’s Cannes headquarters at Meta Beach are also able to experience the brands’ worlds as part of the Meta Horizon Worlds Pavilion demos.

Twitter Creates A Sales Channel App For Shopify

Through Twitter and Shopify’s new partnership, which was announced at the Cannes Lions Festival, all US Shopify merchants will be able to quickly tap into Twitter to drive their customers to purchase.

Why it matters: According to Twitter, there were 6.5 billion Tweets mentioning businesses globally in 2021. For shoppers who are already engaged in conversations about businesses and products, the social platform’s Shopify partnership will bring more of their favorite products directly onto Twitter for them to browse and buy.

The details: Twitter built a sales channel app, available in Shopify’s App Store and the Shopify admin, through which merchants can:

  • Onboard to Twitter shopping manager: With a few clicks, merchants can connect their Twitter account to their Shopify admin and onboard onto Twitter’s Shopping Manager, which is the entry point to Twitter’s suite of Twitter Shopping tools where merchants can access and manage its shopping features.
  • Automatically sync their inventory: Twitter’s sales channel app regularly syncs with Shopify merchants’ product catalogs, so they don’t need to manually update product information on the social platform. As their Shopify catalog changes, so does the catalog in their Twitter Shopping Manager.
  • Highlight their products: Merchants can showcase their products on their Twitter profile with the Shop Spotlight or Twitter Shops to build brand awareness, drive product discovery and reach customers for free. When they’re ready to buy, shoppers can checkout on the merchant’s website. Starting today, Twitter is also expanding beyond the beta testing phase for Shop Spotlight and Twitter Shops and making both features available to all merchants in the US.

Snapchat, British Vogue Debut Interactive AR Fashion Exhibition At Cannes

In partnership with British Vogue, Snapchat created an augmented reality exhibition on display at the Cannes Lions Festival where visitors can immerse themselves in high fashion designs from seven of the world’s leading fashion brands and designers. With the goal of demonstrating how physical fashion can be enhanced through interactive custom Snapchat lenses, “Vogue x Snapchat: Redefining the Body” showcases pieces by Dior, Gucci, Balenciaga, Kenneth Ize, Richard Quinn, Stella McCartney and Versace. 

Why it matters: The activation—developed in collaboration with Arcadia, Atomic Digital Design and Snap’s newly established Paris AR studio—will allow millions of Snapchatters worldwide to engage with the exhibition from the comfort of their own homes. Plus, for many, it presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to “wear” high-fashion designer pieces. It’s through the exhibition’s display of this new technology that Snap hopes to introduce “new levels of accessibility, creativity and expression to the fashion and design world,” the platform’s chief executive Evan Spiegel said. 

The details: Curated by British Vogue editor in chief and Vogue European editorial director Edward Enninful, the “Vogue x Snapchat: Redefining the Body” exhibition features an AR try-on experience in which visitors can immerse themselves in the designers’ creative visions while strolling through unique virtual rooms.

Using Snap’s landmarker technology, the facade of the exhibition was digitally wrapped in a way that visitors can view via a custom landmarker in the Snap Map. Snapchatters who weren’t able to attend Cannes can engage with the exhibition via global lenses in Lens Carousel or via the “Dress Up” tab in Lens Explorer.

Snap and British Vogue also partnered with DressX on a capsule collection that includes exclusive Vogue x Snapchat merchandise and will be available at the exhibition in Cannes and via the DressX site.