The Dubai Media Academy, part of the Dubai Media Corporation, is organizing the Media Z initiative in collaboration with the Canadian University in Dubai. The event will take place on January 21st, coinciding with the 'Year of the Family', and will feature a select group of media and educational leaders, experts, specialists, academics, and students from various Emirati universities.
The initiative aims to shed light on Generations Z and Alpha through a knowledge-based and practical program that focuses on understanding youth behavior in the digital environment and on effective communication methods with them via modern platforms, educational institutions, and government bodies. This will help bridge the gap between academic theory and practical application, emphasizing the importance of balancing digital innovation with family values and national identity.
It is noteworthy that youth constitute approximately 40% of Dubai's population. The video game economy has become a central part of the modern media economy, with youth being drawn to micro-dramas and ultra-short video content. The initiative is based on an analytical study conducted by the Dubai Media Academy, which revealed that the video game economy's size exceeds the combined economies of film, series, and music platforms. Many professional media outlets have yet to grasp these changes.
In this context, many public relations officials have been slow to adopt the language of youth and understand their media interaction patterns. Therefore, the Dubai Media Academy initiated this idea and launched the Media Z initiative. The first session will address the economic and industrial dimensions of digital gaming and ultra-short videos, as well as their psychological, social, and educational impacts and their relationship to national identity. This will empower media professionals and communication officers to effectively engage and integrate new generations into the family unit.
The second session, titled 'The Story in 60 Seconds: The Short-Content Revolution,' will discuss strategies to reach Generations Z and Alpha through the content formats they prefer on digital platforms. The third session, 'The Screen Generation: Identity, Behavior, and Society,' will delve into the psychological, educational, and social aspects of the immersion of Generations Z and Alpha in the digital world and its reflections on identity and societal values.
The Media Z event serves as a strategic platform that brings together media, technology, and education to discuss the growing nexus between Generations Z and Alpha and the modern media landscape, and to explore the impact of video games, short videos, and artificial intelligence technologies on the content industry and its future trajectories.
Concluding the event, a roundtable discussion with experts and specialists will be held to formulate a set of recommendations for media and educational institutions, as well as government communication teams, on best practices for engaging with Generations Z and Alpha.
The launch of the Media Z initiative by the Dubai Media Academy is a national, specialized media endeavor aimed at deepening the understanding of how Generation Z interacts with media and digital platforms, and at studying the impact of these interactions on the value system, family communication, and national identity amid rapid digital transformation.
