David Kleeman, Senior Vice President of Global Trends at Dubit, delivered a compelling keynote during the second day on MIP Junior, addressing the rapid fragmentation of youth media and the rise of gaming as Generation Alpha’s primary social hub. On the presentation, titled «Games: Gen Alpha’s ‘Third Space’,» Kleeman argued that as traditional social media faces mounting regulatory pressure and user fatigue, video games have seamlessly stepped in to fulfill young people’s need for community, creativity, and connection.
Kleeman opened by highlighting the shift from massive, unified pop culture moments to highly fragmented, niche fandoms. ‘It used to be a cultural touchstone. Now we have touch pebbles’, he explained, quoting a recent cultural observation. Because Gen Alpha utilizes more diverse platforms than any previous generation, it has become increasingly difficult to build a single, globally dominant franchise. Instead, creators must ‘curate an array of different ways of engaging with the IP’ and discover which specific ‘pebbles’ resonate most deeply with their audience. ‘Seek affinity, not attention’, Kleeman advised. ‘Seek meaning, not attention’.
A major catalyst for this fragmentation is the current ‘social media exodus’. As regulators worldwide—and parents—impose strict restrictions on traditional social platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat, gaming environments like Roblox have largely escaped this scrutiny. Furthermore, many young people themselves are abandoning algorithmic social feeds in favor of smaller, closed networks or even reverting to ‘flip phones’ to escape digital pressures.
As kids migrate away from traditional social media, Kleeman argued that they are finding exactly what they lost within gaming platforms. Drawing on sociological concepts, he defined these digital environments as a ‘Third Space’—distinct from home and work (or school)—where individuals go to socialize, relax, and build community, much like a local coffee shop or pub.
‘What do third spaces bring to people that is similar to what games bring to people?’ Kleeman asked, noting that gaming provides safety, social leveling, and deep personal agency. Referencing self-determination theory, he explained that games fulfill three essential psychological needs for Gen Alpha: autonomy (making meaningful choices or exploring freely), competency (leveling up and mastering skills), and belonging (joining a ‘tribal’ community and expressing identity through avatars).
Crucially, modern gaming platforms operate as powerful engines for creation and cultural currency. ‘Anyone with the engine can make games’, Kleeman noted, pointing out that kids as young as seven are building simple environments, while teen developers are already working professionally. He shared a striking example of this community power on Roblox, where a nine-year-old rapper invited players to join his in-game music video, drawing an astonishing 540,000 participants. Furthermore, this engagement extends far beyond the game itself, with gaming influencers driving billions of daily views across YouTube and TikTok.
For IP owners and content creators looking to succeed in this new landscape, Kleeman emphasized the need to surrender some control and allow audiences to actively shape the narrative. ‘When you make a video, it’s finished’, he stated. ‘When you make a game, you can watch how people play with it and adapt to what it is that they really like best’.
Ultimately, Kleeman summarized the evolution of children’s media engagement: Traditional television offered ‘a good story well told’. Social video allowed audiences to say, ‘Let me react to your story’. But gaming platforms offer something far deeper: ‘Let me live in that story that you created… It’s a good story, and I can help direct which way it’s gonna go’.
