Request: What defines the social media behavior and preferences of Generation Z?

INSIGHTS

- In the U.S., the social media behavior and preferences of Generation Z includes
using private and fake accounts, having multiple accounts based on different
social groups, using Snapchat in online retail shopping, and preferring social
media websites that have a lot of pictures.
- YouTube is the most preferred social media website by generation Z that
accounts for 85% of the Americans.
- People of generation Z in the U.S. prefer to watch sports live on social media
websites.

In this study, we found that the social media behavior of generation Z in the U.S. can be
described as: preference of using private and fake accounts, having multiple accounts
depending on the social group, using Snapchat in online retail shopping, and preference
of social media websites with a lot of pictures. According to The Pew Research Center's
Internet & American Life Project, the generation’s social media preferences include
YouTube (85%), Instagram (72%), and Snapchat (69%). Below is a detailed explanation
of our findings.

THE SOCIAL MEDIA BEHAVIOR OF GENERATION Z

Generation Z people prefer personal experience in social media, and are more sensitive
towards their privacy by covering the webcam on their laptops. Despite their sensitivity
towards privacy, the generation Z people are not fond of concealing their identities in
social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter. They learned from the previous
generations, especially the Millennials, to browse the internet as anonymous watchers.
A particular research shows that 85% of the overall generation Z learns about new
products on social media, and have also 59% more chances than the past generations
to link with the well-known brands personally as well. In making a purchase, they turn to
YouTube, two times more than the Millenials. YouTube (24%) is the top social media
platform for shopping recommendation among the generation Z people, followed by
Instagram (17%), and Facebook (16%). They love to use Snapchat for store
experiences within an office or building to express their social media behavior in
exhibiting their differing identities. They also choose a specific character in each social
media platform, and even create more than one account for different online groups
within the platform. In an online survey pertaining to the U.S. generation Z states that
11% of the teens mentioned that they had created fake Instagram accounts (finstas) for
their personal purposes. Gen Z people are also drawn to the Stories function of
Snapchat because it enables them to send stories to friends or friend groups rather than
to publicize these stories to their followers list, which is what they have most likely
learned from the Millennials’ mistakes. They are more likely to use the direct message
feature (45%) in Instagram communicate with friends than to tag friends publicly in the
comments (43%). These teens are also highly engaged in apps like House Party, where
users can chat with a maximum of eight people at a time. An online survey in the U.S.
states that the people from generation Z use Snapchat as a social proof: 44% of the
generation Z shoppers use Snapchat in retail store shopping, while only 16% of the
Millennials and 5% of the generation X respondents use Snapchat for retail store
shopping purposes. Another online survey stated that 42% of the generation Z
respondents believed that social media affects the way other people see them, and 39%
says that social media affects their self-esteem. According to a Pew Research Center
survey conducted in 2018, 45% of the teens now say they are online almost all the time,
while 44% of them claimed to be several times a day. Based on these figures, it can be
assumed that 9 out of 10 teens are online many times per day. Generation Z people use
social media and stream contents using mobile devices most of the time (an average of
23 hours of video contents every week) than any other generations, which is almost a
whole day spent only in watching rather than reading or any other activities. They also
tend to create, consume, and engage with much more with visual contents rather than
words-based contents. Brands and retailers who want to effectively target them should
learn from visual-based platforms, and utilize their online product photos and
instructional videos. 40% of the generation Z respondents in one of the studies of Pew
Research Center mentioned that social media had a positive impact because it helped
them maintain contact, communication, and interaction with others. Most of these
responses emphasized how the social media has simplified the communication with
family and friends and to connect with new people.

THE SOCIAL MEDIA PREFERENCES OF GENERATION Z

Teenagers in the U.S. believed that Facebook is targeted towards the old people, and
only 34 percent of US them use Facebook. To search for well-known product brands,
they use Instagram, with 45% of teen users, to find cool products, then Facebook, with
40% of teen users. According to an online article published by Criteo in 2018, the social
media preferences of generation Z include Vine (54%), Instagram (52%), Twitter (34%),
Pinterest (15%), and Periscope (11%). In a recent study of Pew Research Center,
however, about half (51%) of teenagers in the U.S. ages 13-17 claim that they use
Facebook, which is extremely lower compared to the usage percentage for the big
winners, namely: YouTube (85%); Instagram (72%); and Snapchat (69%). With more
available options, people from generation Z choose YouTube (85%), Instagram (72%),
Snapchat (69%), Facebook (51%), and Twitter (32%). Moreover, American teens with
low income (22%) are more actively using Facebook than those who have higher
income (4%). Female teens (42%) use Snapchat more frequently than male teens
(29%), while they (39%) use YouTube more frequently than female teens (25%). Also,
white teens (41%) are more likely to use Snapchat than Hispanic (29%) or black (23%),
while black teens (26%) are more likely to use Facebook than white teens (7%). Only
9% of the American teens consider Facebook as their most preferred social media
website according to a survey conducted by Piper Jaffray in 2017. Generation Z people
prefer Snapchat and Instagram over Facebook, while the older Millennials comprise the
biggest percentage of Facebook’s users. Lastly, a study conducted by STELLA RISING
in 2018 showed that generation Z's most preferred social media platforms are as
follows: YouTube (65%), Snapchat (49%), Instagram (43%), Facebook (42%), Twitter
(22%), and Pinterest (9%).
SPORTS/ATHLETICS AND SOCIAL MEDIA FOR GENERATION Z

Sports/athletics aims to target generation Z rather than the Millennial because they have
already surpassed the number of Millennials. The Millennials is considered to be the
digital pioneers, while generation Z can be considered digital natives that preferred
Snapchat and Youtube. People from generation Z prefer watching sports live on social
media websites because they grew up using mobile devices and social media has
played a vital role regarding their content preferences and consumption habits including
sports. Lastly, men from generation Z are drawn closer to non-traditional sports rather
than traditional sports in social media. Furthermore, they strive to demonstrate their
skills and abilities in sports by imitating the moves they see across social media
websites’ videos, and comparing their own skills with the videos they watch.