🏇🏽 The 4 Types of Gen Z Nostalgia: Streaming Edition
And a big shoutout to Stranger Things for making us feel all types of ways
We recently revealed that 97% of Gen Z feel nostalgic, with 53% feeling nostalgic often or always. And in that piece, we explored how music streaming has played a major role in fueling the Nostalgic Majority (the first generation with a majority of people feeling nostalgic a majority of the time).
📻 Music streaming for Gen Z is like tuning a radio until you find the right song on the right station - except rather than waiting for that song to come on (or hoping for the perfect mood), Gen Z has grown up instantly seeking the emotion we want to feel by just searching it as a playlist on Spotify. In the mood for “nostalgic songs that will make you do chores”? There’s a playlist for that.
But what about streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, HBO, etc? What has access to those services growing up done to impact Gen Z nostalgia? In this piece, we’re exploring the relationship between Gen Z nostalgia and streaming services.
What is the relationship between streaming services and Gen Z nostalgia?
First, let’s take a look at what our network of 75,000+ Gen Z’ers said when we asked them the open-ended question:
What shows do you watch to feel most nostalgic?
Here is a sample display of responses. For the full gallery, send us a note!
What do we notice? To feel “nostalgic”, Gen Z’ers are watching 4 categories of shows/content:
Childhood shows: Spongebob, Suite Life on Deck, Disney Shows, Drake and Josh, iCarly, etc.
Comfort shows: The Office, Grays Anatomy, Friends, Vampire Diaries
Old shows from before we were born: Friends (again, but with a different meaning), Full House, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, 90s sitcoms, etc.
Modern shows with nostalgic vibes: Stranger Things
Each category of shows points to a slightly different interpretation of “nostalgia” for Gen Z, while also providing different paths for us to experience nostalgia.
#1. Childhood shows
Coming in at #1 most mentioned were childhood shows - which…makes sense. This is what most generations describe as feeling nostalgic - a longing for the past periods of your life. Most mentioned shows from our childhood:
Spongebob (also #1 overall)
Suite Life of Zack and Cody
Zoey 101, iCarly, Regular Show
#2. Comfort shows
Here we begin to diverge - when asked what shows make them most nostalgic, many Gen Z’ers responded with what we call comfort shows - shows that young people are watching in the background, while putting makeup on, when getting ready for class in the morning, etc. And we’ve probably watched them more than twice - or in some cases, 12 times. And because we watch them so many times, each “watch” becomes associated with a moment in our lives. This association creates the feeling and attributed meaning of nostalgia.
Personally, How I Met Your Mother is my comfort show. Every time I watch it, I remember the first time watching it, and what my life felt like in that moment. And every time I watch again, I’m transported back to those moments, but each time with a foothold in the present.
It’s almost as if comfort shows give us a measurement tool for our lives - no need to stand against the wall and pencil in our height; we just rewatch Friends and see what emotions it brings about now.
Most mentioned comfort shows:
Friends
The Office
How I Met Your Mother, New Girl, Vampire Diaries
For Gen Z’ers, our comfort show of choice fits our mood. Just check out this TikTok that perfectly explains different types of comfort shows:
#3. Old shows (relatively old, sorry!)
Older TV shows like Friends, the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Full House, etc, give Gen Z the opportunity to feel what it was like to live in the past. It’s not just a storyline or memories from the past, but a show truly filmed in the past, giving us access to the vibes and moods of decades past.
Most mentioned “old shows”:
Friends
Fresh Prince of Bel Air
Full House
“90s sitcom”
There is something in these shows that is so seemingly present for Gen Z - and perhaps that’s why they resonate with such strong nostalgic vibes. The characters in these shows have no phones, no social media - just presence.
#4. Modern shows with nostalgic vibes
This is a fascinating and revealing category of shows that give Gen Z the “most nostalgia”. How can a show with final episodes released a few weeks ago (Stranger Things Season 4) give Gen Z such a strong feeling of nostalgia? And nostalgia for the 80s but also 2016 and 2019? Take a scroll through these comments to better understand:
This comment gets to the root of one of the different types of nostalgia that Stranger Things creates:
In a world where terrible things went from happening every year to every day, growing up with a show like Stranger Things allows us to weave different phases of our lives together, to make meaning of the past and cope with the present.
But Stranger Things is more than just 2016 and 2019 nostalgia - it has created an intense longing for the 80s. Fast Company released an article yesterday on this “unique” type of nostalgia that Gen Z feels from Stranger Things, calling it “pseudo-nostalgia”. This 80s longing is a mix of aesthetics, fashion, and most importantly music. Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill is now the #1 song in the US and #2 in the world, followed closely by Metallica’s Master of Puppets, both making appearances in the final season of Stranger Things.
What is the point of all of this? What does it really mean?
The goal is not for us to categorize and isolate these 4 different types of nostalgia - these are not clean divisions - they each blend, mix and mold new meanings and interpretations of word nostalgia.
The point is this - that these shows, each in their own way, have enabled us to escape to a simpler time. To immerse ourselves in a time other than the present.
As brands look to build their futures, this generation continues looking to reconnect with the past. In different ways, through different methods; but at the core of it all is a deep, fundamental longing for simpler times.
What are examples of brands that tap into this nostalgic longing in different ways?
As brands try to build the future, consumers still long for the past.
But the brands that successfully unite the past with the present will be the ones that build the future.
Netflix and Chipotle both launched successful nostalgic activations on Roblox, with Netflix re-creating the popular Starcourt Mall from Stranger Things in the platform, and Chipotle launching a 90s-themed burrito builder earlier this year.
But not every nostalgic activation has to be done on Roblox. This year’s Super Bowl was full of nostalgic appeals, with Crypto.com’s The Moment of Truth commercial striking major nostalgic chords, the throwback halftime show of many lifetimes, the Frito Lay Push It hit, and many more.
Through music, memories, experiences and aesthetics, brands that create opportunities for Gen Z’ers to connect with the past - their own and/or the historical past - will continue to resonate and build relevance with this generation.