The road to gold mining of silver age content

Since then, a number of silver-age-themed variety shows with different themes have appeared one after another, including the lifestyle variety show "Summer Under the Eaves" which joins hands with Generation Z and unfolds the "one old and one young" model, and "The Second Departure" which brings the popular travel reality show model into the silver-age track.

Judging from the variety shows that have received good responses so far, Silver Age variety shows cannot bring effective popularity by borrowing models from other circles. Unique and differentiated topics are the competitiveness of Silver Age variety shows .

In terms of film and television content, compared with other age groups, the proportion of silver-age themes has always been small. However, starting from 2021, the number of works with middle-aged and elderly people as the protagonists has increased significantly, and some relatively eye-catching works have been produced enthusiastically.

The absurd comedy short drama "The World of Aunts" produced by Tencent Video was the first to break the stereotype of retired aunts and was welcomed by people of all ages; "Please, Grandma" produced by Kuaishou focused on social issues such as left-behind elderly people in rural areas; "The Rest of Your Life" launched on Tencent Video interprets the issues of pension, social interaction and other issues that concern the elderly in a humorous way... On UGC platforms such as Kuaishou and Douyin, the silver-age group who tried independent creation also became active during this period.

@老饭骨, a Douyin account with tens of millions of fans, was founded by several experienced state banquet chefs with an average age of over 60 years old; @我是田老佬, which records daily funny life, has over one million views for each video; @杨维云, a Chinese teacher with 50 years of teaching experience, has opened a live pinyin class, which is always packed... They show their fashion, personality, freedom and vitality, and are beginning to emerge in the field of "creators".

This large group of silver-age creators, together with the short dramas, have set off a craze, and this craze has also spread to the screen.

It is obvious that the number of TV series and movies with silver-aged protagonists has increased in recent years: the road movie-style TV series "Grandma's New World" that highlights the independence and individuality of the elderly; the suspense crime TV series "The Long Season" that portrays the middle-aged and elderly; the newly released TV series "Old Guy" starring the "iron triangle" of Zhang Guoli, Wang Gang, and Zhang Tielin; the movie "I Love You!" that depicts the friendship, love, and family affection of the elderly group; and the movie "Mom!" that tells the story of an 85-year-old mother taking care of her 65-year-old daughter with Alzheimer's disease.

Not only can we see that the quantity, quality and production level of silver-age film and television works are showing a healthy development trend, but we can also notice that the themes of silver-age film and television works have gradually expanded from micro-short dramas mainly limited to life themes to career, love, suspense, black humor and other themes that are feasible in other circles, and are also trying to find a foothold in the silver-age track.

The pace of film and television dramas on the silver age is small and cautious. But it is gratifying that it is advancing and diversifying. Moreover, in the creation of UGC and film and television works in recent years, the image of the silver age group has broken through the stereotype and has undergone great changes.

In the video "Silver Age Dreamers" released by Kuaishou, the elderly can be "omnipotent supermen" or "diligent schoolchildren". They are not restricted by age and time, and are no longer afraid of aging. Instead, they can get along with life freely and arbitrarily. In film and television works, the elderly can be the independent and self-satisfied grandmother in "Grandma's New World", the positive brothers in "Old Guys", or the free and easy neighbor in "Auntie's World".

Independent, positive, free and fashionable images of silver-haired people have begun to replace stereotypes, which has also opened up more possibilities for the creation of silver-age works. The increasing number of silver-age contents with high quality and different styles have been "rolling up" on various platforms. While the silver-age group has entered the audience's field of vision in various ways, it also means that various platforms have seen the traffic potential of the silver-age group and gradually recognized the social and economic value of silver-age content.

2. More than just silver age

The audience of silver age content has never been limited to the silver age group. First of all, the silver age group is not only an Internet user, but also uses the Internet to become content creators.

The silver age group is not a generation eliminated by technological progress. The "technological gap" is collapsing with the efforts of some of the silver age groups, just like the many middle-aged and elderly people who have started their "second life" on the Kuaishou platform. For example, @三喜爷, a creator with millions of fans, has withdrawn from the fields in the northwest. Sometimes he is a poet in white, sometimes he is a Dunhuang painter who has spanned thousands of years, and sometimes he uses the image of an ancient general to carry out anti-fraud propaganda. Cross-dressing is not just a new thing for young people to play. The gray-haired @三喜爷 has also gradually integrated into the context of Internet culture.

Secondly, the content of silver-age themes is far more popular than the stereotype. It has the power to break through circles. It not only supplements social needs to a certain extent, but also is popular among people of all ages in terms of its expression form.

Among the winning team of the 2023 "Person of the Year Who Moved China" collective award, there is a group of "Silver-haired Knowledge Broadcasters". They are composed of 13 veteran academicians, professors, and primary and secondary school teachers with an average age of 77. After retirement, they turned to the Internet and are active on various short video platforms, using short video content to popularize science.

Their video content covers circuits, pinyin, astronomy, geography and other fields. Their video content is called "a classroom without walls and a university without thresholds". The audience is wide and the age span is large. It can be said that it has gone viral. Finally, it is the progress of social reality that forces the industry to generate new demands.

From 2013 to 2023, the number of people aged 65 and above in my country continued to grow, and their proportion in the total population continued to increase. According to the Statistical Bulletin on National Economic and Social Development in 2022 released by the National Bureau of Statistics, by the end of 2023, the number of people aged 65 and above in my country will be 217 million, accounting for 15.4% of the national population, and the degree of population aging will continue to deepen.

At the social level, the growing size of the silver-age group is stimulating the growing demand for silver-age content. The production of silver-age content is also developing towards covering multiple age groups on the basis of serving the silver-age circle. This not only puts forward new requirements for content production and broadcasting, but also gives greater hope and confidence to silver-age content. The choice of model for silver-age content is a differentiated boxing method - from the perspective of the variety show track, the creation of silver-age content is still in the "imitation" stage.

Take the travel variety show "Second Departure" for example. Although the highlights are different, the similar scripts and rules make the audience not "have to watch". However, the "Unforgettable" series of variety shows launched in 2019, with its unique perspective and model, is still mentioned repeatedly many years later, and has the opportunity to continue the differentiated IP.

The selection of topics for the silver-age content boldly breaks the stereotype - from the perspective of film and television drama settings, the creation of silver-age content has begun to have new breakthroughs. In recent years, the screen image of the silver-age has the opportunity to leap from supporting roles to leading roles. And what has changed with it is the fullness of the characters.

Silver-age characters are not just gentle and tolerant, or old-fashioned and difficult, or boring and dull. They can have a more three-dimensional image, with independent personality, arbitrary choices, free spirit, and willful dreams. For example, the grandmother who pursues her dreams in her old age in "Grandma's New World" boldly integrates into the workplace of young people and starts her own career. She has the ties, stubbornness and timidity of the older generation, but also her own courage, determination and ideals.

This is not only popular among the silver-age group, but also welcomed by audiences of all ages.

Guidance on silver-age content tends to be professional - on short video platforms, we can see more and more video works by middle-aged and elderly people that are professionally shot and well-scripted. They either figure it out on their own and enjoy it, or work with their children and grandchildren to create "one old and one young", or have the support of a professional MCN team to make drastic changes.

Any form will make the silver age content on the short video platform more diverse and professional.

To sum up, today's silver-age content and themes are just a drop in the ocean. Whether it is UGC's "silver-haired Internet celebrities" or professionally produced and broadcast silver-age entertainment works, they are still growing from "targeting the silver-age group" to "not just silver-age" topics.

As China accelerates its entry into an aging society, the attention paid to silver-age content also indicates the scale of the Internet elderly population and the huge potential consumer market it reserves.

3. Silver Age Gold Mining

On May 15, at the 2024 Kuaishou E-commerce Gravity Conference, Wang Jianwei, head of the E-commerce Division and Commercialization Division, pointed out that the consumption power of middle-aged and elderly users on the Kuaishou e-commerce platform is becoming increasingly prominent, and the potential and importance of the middle-aged and elderly groups in e-commerce consumption.

The effective integration of content and economic value is a solid and powerful arm for the continuous development of a track. The creation of silver age content is not limited to entertaining the silver age audience, but should have the ambition to break the circle, which is the key factor in gaining broader economic value.

In the user portrait of the short video platform, the fan groups of creators of different age groups will also revolve around this age group, which is a natural phenomenon resulting from intergenerational communication.

However, in the creation of cultural and entertainment works, this boundary can be broken through artistic creation such as content, form, and style.

For example, "The World of Aunts", which focuses on the silver-age group, tells the story of the retirement life of community aunts. However, its appealing short play format, distinctive comedy style and online-friendly publicity and marketing methods have made it have a large number of young audiences: "I will watch it with my parents next time", "Suitable for all ages", "I want to be like this when I get old!"

The creative idea of ​​breaking the boundaries of circles is the key to Silver Age Content building a foundation for gold mining.

The key to the silver-age group gaining commercial discourse power is to amplify their irreplaceable uniqueness in content creation and play the role of opinion leaders in appropriate fields.

The weakness of the silver-age group as content creators lies in the information gap. They are slow and difficult to access new information. The @时尚阿姨团, which successfully transforms content creation into economic value, dares to try more. Whether it is live broadcast or commercial performance, you can see the grandmothers participating confidently and calmly.

Compared with the strong consumption conversion ability, social media activity and voice of the young and middle-aged groups, the silver-age group is not valued by the entertainment capital market, but its potential is yet to be tapped, so the support and attempts of various platforms should not be underestimated. For example, the platform and the creators work together to find the most suitable style and form, and provide strong support: content creator @北京大妈有话 found that the elderly not only pay attention to the quality of live broadcast products, but also pursue the emotional value provided by the live broadcast room and the emotional value of the product itself, such as the slow pace and companionship of the live broadcast room, as well as the ritual and empathy of product packaging.

Another company that is taking practical actions for its “old irons” is Kuaishou E-commerce. After Kuaishou’s research and observations showed that the number of elderly consumers on the platform has increased over the past year, Kuaishou E-commerce has also begun to consider optimizing the platform’s merchant services, striving to provide “old irons” with more targeted, aging-friendly services, and is committed to completing the efficient transformation of silver-age content into the silver-age economy on the platform.

Highly specialized platforms are working together with the creators who are exploring step by step. The bottleneck of silver-age content being out of touch with the times, slow progress, and complacency will have a chance to break through. Presumably, with the integration of the silver-age group and the increase in multi-faceted needs, the mining of the silver-age economy will be imperative.

IV. Conclusion

Silver age content is worth exploring, it has the potential and value to be explored. It is also obvious that starting from content, the road to gold mining for the silver age group is still in its infancy, and it is not easy to move forward with thorns. But it is still immature, which also means there are many opportunities on the other hand.

It can be seen that silver age content can be both popular and well received. In the current media context, this requires the support of more hands. While broadening the depth and breadth of the content itself, the attention and support from industry professionals will have the opportunity to help it form an impactful and breakthrough transformation. The power of silver age content may not be limited to this, and the potential of the silver age economy is also waiting to be tapped.

Author: Di Fei; Source public account: Media No. 1 (ID: 1093893)