3 ways Gen Z is leading social media usage

Social media usage is increasing for all generations, but most quickly for Gen Z. This year, US Gen Z social media usage will grow 7.7% versus 1.8% for the general population, according to our May 2024 forecast.

“[Gen Z] is catching up to millennials almost everywhere,” our analyst Paola Flores-Marquez said on the “Behind the Numbers: The Daily” podcast. They’re coming for millennials on Instagram, and soon Reddit, while younger Gen Zers are picking up Facebook as the start of their social media journey, she said.

Here are three ways Gen Z is leading social media usage.

1. Gen Z Instagram use is gaining ground on millennials

Instagram has always been a millennial-dominated platform, holding the largest share of users since the platform’s inception. By next year, millennial Instagram users will be overtaken by Gen Z in the US, with 52.4 million Gen Z users on the platform, per our forecast.

• More than three-quarters (75.4%) of Gen Zers will be Instagram users next year, compared with 70.5% of millennials, per our forecast.
• Gen Zers aged 18 to 24 will spend 45 minutes per day on Instagram, the most of any other age group.

Part of the reason for Instagram’s growth is because it is utilitarian, Flores-Marquez said. Instagram is easier to send direct messages than on TikTok, plus, when you’re meeting new people, it’s less intimate than sharing a phone number, she said.

Meanwhile, millennials have less time, more responsibilities, and don’t have as much urge to share their lives anymore, Flores-Marquez said. “[Anecdotally,] they don’t feel the pressure to perform for others in the same way.”

2. Reddit helps Gen Z find community and knowledge

“Reddit is one of the biggest winners of our [“US Social Media Users by Generation 2024”] report because they're seeing gains all over with almost every generation—especially Gen Z,” Flores-Marquez said. Logged-in Gen Z Reddit users will grow 21.0% in the US this year, reaching 18 million, per our forecast.

• This year, more than a quarter (26.1%) of the Gen Z population will be Reddit users. That will increase to 40.1% by 2028.
• Millennials now hold the largest share of Reddit users, but their share will decline over the next few years, giving way for Gen Z.

“Reddit’s growth is very impressive, and speaks to how it’s benefitting from a shift where people are looking for spaces to find community and discussion now that X is continuing to dissolve,” Flores-Marquez said. “Reddit is also a space for Gen Z to do in-depth research on their interests.”

3. Facebook remains relevant in maintaining connection

Gen Z is the only generation to increase their usership on Facebook. This year, US Gen Z Facebook users will increase 8.6%, reaching 33.9 million, per our forecast.

• This year, nearly half (49.0%) of the Gen Z population will be a Facebook user, per our forecast.
• Like all other age groups, Gen Zers aged 18 to 24 are decreasing their time spent on Facebook YoY.

“Facebook is such a fixture in the social media landscape that it’s almost a given that [Gen Zers] will sign up for it when they get on social media,” Flores-Marquez said.

Facebook makes it easy to stay up-to-date with connections both international and local, too, she said. By connecting with people in your neighborhood, meeting them in Groups, or buying from Facebook Marketplace, you can foster relationships with real people, compared with more anonymous spaces such as Reddit.

Listen to the full episode.

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