If the internet is helping shape the next generation of men, understanding what influences them may be one of the most important conversations we can have.
Every day, millions of young men turn to social media to learn about success, fitness, finances, relationships and what it means to ‘be a man’. Increasingly, those messages are being shaped by a growing ecosystem of online masculinity influencers. While some offer entertainment and motivation, others promote a narrow vision of manhood centred on status, wealth, physical appearance and dominance. Yet despite the scale of this influence, there is remarkably little evidence about what actually works in engaging young men with healthier, more expansive alternatives.
Today, a new global initiative is setting out to change that.
The Young Men and Media Collective (YMMC), co-convened by Movember and Equimundo, has launched its inaugural YMMC ‘Test and Learn’ Cohort — bringing together nine creators and organisations from three different continents in a shared effort to reshape masculinity narratives online. The projects represent a range of different creative expressions including poetry and humour and focus on different themes of sport, journalism, gaming, brotherhood, boxing, construction, and youth-led digital storytelling.
The ambition is simple but significant: to understand how content can better support young men’s health and wellbeing in the digital spaces where they are already forming opinions about themselves, their futures and their place in the world.
This first YMMC ‘Test and Learn’ cohort will challenge the increasingly dominant message that in order for men to be successful, they must be ‘relentlessly ripped and rich’, at all costs, and instead explore broader, healthier ideas of strength, confidence, connection and purpose.
“Rather than assuming what works, the Collective is taking a different approach”, says José Campi-Portaluppi, Director of Communications & Advocacy, Equimundo: Center for Masculinites & Social Justice. “Each project will act as a real-world experiment, testing different messages, formats and creative techniques with young men directly. We are really excited to share the insights that will be generated right across the YMMC Learning Network, helping creators, organisations and platforms build a stronger understanding of how to reach and support young men more effectively online.”
Sarah Sternberg, Director, Global Reimagining Masculinities Initiative at Movember says; “Young men are navigating an online world saturated with messages about who they should be and how they should live. We believe there is an urgent opportunity to understand what kinds of stories, voices and content can broaden those conversations and better support young men’s wellbeing. We’re working with a diverse and inspirational group of creators to explore what works. This is the first step in building an evidence base for how we create healthier and more expansive narratives about masculinity online.”
The nine inaugural people/organisations are: Fight for Peace, Hey Brother Co, Next Gen Men, On The Tools, Hustle Media, Caliber, Sam Browne, Sander Jennings and The Spit Game — organisations and creators working across different communities, cultures and platforms but united by a shared goal: creating content that reflects a wider range of male experiences.
Jonathan Jacobs of Hey Brother House said; “One of the greatest challenges our community has faced in reaching men and boys is a failure to build partnership and infrastructure, both internally and externally. Being part of the YMMC allows us to learn alongside others tackling the same challenge. The possibilities this represents for narrative diversity, iterative learning and message propagation have us incredibly hopeful.”
Sam Browne, Poet added; “Being part of a community of people all working towards the same goal is not only comforting, it’s incredibly inspiring. There’s real power in bringing different voices together to rethink the stories young men are hearing every day.”
The launch of the ‘Test and Learn Cohort’ marks the beginning of a wider global effort to understand how online culture shapes masculinity — and how creators, organisations and platforms can work together to build something better.