I Want My Data.

Generation Alpha is the Data Ownership Tipping Point Generation

As a proud member of the MTV generation I honestly don’t give a shit that Zuckerberg and his contemporaries own and make money off my data. (I mean I do but I don’t.) And much of the world doesn’t either; e.g., FB, Insta, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, and WeChat each have 1.5-3B+ monthly actives. So despite surveys that show people prefer to own their personal data rather than allowing companies like Facebook to control it, these numbers suggest that, by and large, today’s consumers don’t give a shit; or at least aren’t overly compelled to pay to remove ads or drop off social media altogether. So then… who does? Generation Alpha. Or at least they will. And they’re going to be the data ownership tipping point generation. 

Gen Alpha, people born around 2010-now (e.g., my kids), are gamer native - that is, these kids’ first engagement with (digital) communication was via games. They put their hands on iPads before they used computers or messaging. (Yes they put their hands on phones too, but they were touching phones to play games.) They had Xboxes and PlayStations and Switches before they had iPhones. This is in contrast to Gen Y (digital natives that grew up on email) and Gen Z (mobile natives that grew up on phones). 

Gens X/Y/Z, for the most part, already chose their preferred communication / socializing platforms and, for the most part, already implicitly signed deals with these (devil) platforms to relinquish ownership of their data in exchange for free access to their platforms. Those generations also suffered the pitfalls of their lack of ownership; e.g., Kevin Hart’s and James Gunn’s setbacks for resurfaced old tweets, rescinded college admittance for old racist videos, and just about anything related to IsAnyoneUp.com (watch The Most Hated Man in the Internet). Not that I in any way condone any of the things these people may have said or done. But we’re (also) learning that even momentary, minor lapses in judgment can live forever. And… kids still do stupid things. Trust me, I have two. 🤦‍♂️

Gen Z explicitly told us they didn’t like this “Internet permanence” by adopting Snapchat for a while, but we thought it was stupid. (“It’s a feature…!” 🥱) and we ignored it.

But Gen Alpha hasn’t chosen their socialization platforms yet. And the hardware brands with which they associate are Apple (still) but also Sony (PlayStation) and Microsoft (Xbox) and Nintendo (Switch). And Gen Alpha’s parents (from Gen X/Y/Z) are drilling the mantra “the Internet is permanent!” into their still developing brains. 

So the conditions are forming for a new generation (Alpha) to adopt a new socialization platform that lets them control their own (portable) data and content (e.g., profiles and photos). What is that platform? Heck I wish I knew. But I suspect it’ll involve blockchain (whether we or they realize it or not) and gamer dynamics.