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How Gen Z use different social media platforms

Author's avatar By James Story 01 Nov, 2018
Essential Essential topic

Chart of the Day: Facebook still used for group events - Instagram top for following brands

Much has been made of Generation Z abandoning Facebook for the likes of Instagram and Snapchat. While Facebook has reportedly been dropping in popularity among teens since 2015, the Center for Generational Kinetics has conducted research in how Gen Z use different social apps and suggests it still comes top for some aspects of their social lives.

social media use table

The CGK's State of Gen Z report found Facebook was still preferred over other platforms when users wanted to create and check a group event. When it comes to individual behaviour (posting selfies or videos of themselves) Snapchat was top, while Instagram was the most used platform when members of Gen Z wanted to follow a brand.

An interesting trend in the results found that female users outpaced male social media usage for every task mentioned in the survey. As you can see from the data above, female stats are regularly more than 10% higher than those of men, suggesting social media audiences (on these platforms, at least) have particular appeal to women.

Gen Z is being described as the first 'fully-digital generation', and it's easy to see why - the CGK's report also found that 29% of Gen Z use their smartphones after midnight every night.

"This generation is truly immersed in a digital-everything world, with many spending double-digit hours each day on their phones. That is a lot of time to commit to interacting with a small screen, but an especially large amount when factoring in the typical time commitments of school, sleep, leisure activities, and work. However, Gen Z is creating a trend that appears to show no sign of slowing down."

Author's avatar

By James Story

James Story has worked in the world of digital marketing since 2014 as a content and online PR executive. Specialising in content creation, he has been part of award-nominated projects and instrumental in the creation of content hubs. With a passion for the written word and an eye for detail, he is currently the Senior Content Manager for Lead Tech, a financial lead generation company providing high-quality leads for financial advisers and financial advice firms. You can connect with James on LinkedIn

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