Understanding Gen Z And How They Use Social Media.

We have all heard how Gen Z is the youngest generation, and chances are that your business is interested in knowing who they are and how to approach them. First of all, we need to know that Gen Z was born between 1997 and 2012. People born between these years grew up surrounded by social media. After all, the first social media network was launched in 1995. Nowadays, Gen Z is the generation with the highest levels of mobile phone ownership overall (98% globally) [Knit, 2022], and they are using those devices an average of 4.5 hours a day. Of these 4.5 hours, they spend 40% of the time on social media. The reasoning behind the use of social media is mainly to stay in touch with friends and family, followed by sharing photos and videos, and then to kill time. It seems they are using these platforms to feel less alone. On the other hand, Gen Zs are least likely to use social media to produce and distribute content of their own, as a networking resource at school or work, or to share details of their lives. This is a huge difference from millennials, who used social media to overshare and document every detail of their lives. But what social media channels do Gen Z use? Currently, Youtube is the #1 platform they use, followed by TikTok, and then Instagram and Facebook share the third spot. They do not, however, use only these social media platforms. Discord, Twitch, and Reddit are growing in popularity, with an increase of 20% in logins from 2021 to 2022. What these platforms have in common is the ability to engage in discussions about super-niche interests without a lot of brand intrusion. See the chart below to see the social media platforms Gen Z spends the most time on:

(Knit, 2022).

How They Use Each Platform: Zoomers use different platforms for a variety of things. These are the main things they use each platform for:

Youtube: To keep up with their favorite content creators, to watch music videos or play them in the background, and lastly, to find and watch trending TikTok challenges.
TikTok: To find entertaining or funny videos, to keep up with trends, and to fill up spare time. It is important to note that zoomers rarely post to their feed; instead, they spend most of the time scrolling through the platform.
Instagram: To keep up with fashion trends. From all the features that Instagram offers, zoomers spend three times more time using the main feed.
Facebook: To connect with friends and family and to stay on top of current events.
Snapchat: They mostly use it as a go-to messaging app between friends, but they also use it as a vehicle to document their lives.

As you can see, Gen Z is a very important audience in today’s life, and knowing how they behave in the social media world is relevant to your business. With all the social media platforms available nowadays, creating content and managing each platform can become challenging, especially while running a business. Miss Ink is here to help you with your social media content creation, strategy, and management. Contact us today to get started on creating a social media presence you can be proud of.