Data Drop: 4 Charts on How Gen Z and Millennials Use Social Media for Health Purposes

Younger consumers are increasingly turning to a variety of social media platforms and influencers to look up health-related information. Understanding how they’re using these platforms will help healthcare and pharmaceutical marketers reach more young patients. Here are four charts that reveal Gen Zers’ and millennials’ social media habits when it comes to healthcare, based on data from our December 2023 US Digital Health survey of 1,391 US consumers.

Gen Zers and millennials are using social media to look up health information

Some 71.4% of Gen Zers and 66.0% of millennials in our survey said they used social media to look up health-related information either sometimes, often, or all the time. That figure falls to just 55.5% among consumers overall. But it’s still a supplementary source for many young consumers despite their predilection for digital and social media. Only 8.9% of Gen Zers and 10.8% of millennials said they use social media all the time for health research.