Content Marketing
Gen Z Digital Trends and Statistics
The digital landscape is evolving rapidly, and no generation is driving this transformation quite like Gen Z. Born between 1997 and 2012, Gen Zers have grown up with smartphones and social media as their primary means of communication.
Understanding Gen Z’s digital behaviour is essential if you’re looking to connect with people in this age group. They spend more time online than any other generation, and have an almost unlimited supply of content to consume and platforms to use.
In this article, we’ll delve deeper into Gen Z’s digital habits, including the types of content they like, the platforms they use the most, and how their digital behaviour differs from previous generations.
Key statistics
- Gen Zers are the biggest social media users, with 98% saying they use some form of social media, higher than all other generations.
- YouTube is the most commonly used social media platform by Gen Z, with 84% saying they had used it recently, followed by TikTok (61%).
- Review videos are the most likely to influence Gen Zers to purchase an item (67%).
- Gen Zers spend the most time using TikTok with an average of 2.53 hours per day on this app, followed by YouTube (1.93 hours), and Instagram (1.87 hours).
- Brand content under 15 seconds is most likely to elicit engagement from Gen Z on Instagram.
- People in the Gen Z age group are most likely to get their news from online platforms (83%), with 71% getting news from social media.
- 37% of Gen Zers use online dating platforms, slightly fewer than Millennials (40%), but more than Gen Xers (19%) and Baby boomers (4%).
Who are Gen Z?
Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2012, represents the first generation of true digital natives who have grown up with the influence of smartphones and social media.
Studies indicate Gen Z gravitates toward visual, fast-paced communication platforms and shows strong multitasking abilities. As the oldest Gen Z members enter their twenties, research shows they tend to be more entrepreneurial and progressive on social issues compared to previous generations at the same age.
Social network users by generation
The use of social media and digital platforms varies by generation, though the majority of all generations do use some form of social media.
A study from the UK found that 98% of Gen Zers (born between 1997 and 2012 have social media (the highest proportion of all generations), while Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) have the lowest share of social media users at 86%. Though the majority of people in all generations use social media, there is a slight downward trend in the percentage of users as age increases.
Gen Z’s social media use
We know that Gen Z is the biggest user of social media; let’s take a look at what they use social media for and the most commonly used social platforms among Gen Z.
The most common thing Gen Zers use social media for is entertainment and scrolling, with 68% of Gen Z mainly using social platforms for this purpose. 19% mainly use social channels for messaging, and 13% use them for other activities.
YouTube is the most commonly used social platform for Gen Z, with more than four in five (84%) saying they had used it recently, followed by TikTok (61%) and Snapchat (58%).
Lesser-used social media apps for Gen Zers are Bereal (4%), Twitch (10%), and LinkedIn (10%).
| What social media app has the highest reach among Gen Z? | ||
| Rank | Platform | Usage Reach |
| 1 | Youtube | 84% |
| 2 | Tiktok | 61% |
| 3 | Snapchat | 58% |
| 4 | 56% | |
| 5 | 34% | |
| 6 | 33% | |
| 7 | 27% | |
| 8 | 24% | |
| =9 | Linkedln | 10% |
| =9 | Twitch | 10% |
| 11 | Bereal | 4% |
How much time does Gen Z spend on social media?
On average, adults of all ages spend 1 hour and 50 minutes on social media each day, but Gen Zers spend an average of just over three hours per day using social media platforms.
Over a third (35%) of Gen Zers spend more than four hours a day on social media as of 2024, a slight reduction compared to 2023 (38%). This makes them the most active generation when it comes to social media use, with only 19% of all adults spending that much time on these platforms.
Gen Zers spend the most time on TikTok per day
When looking at the average amount of time spent on each app, TikTok is the top by some way, with Gen Zers spending an average of 2.53 hours per day using this app. YouTube comes second with an average of 1.93 hours per day, which is unsurprising considering YouTube has a greater focus on long-form content compared to other platforms. However, it should be noted that not everyone will use all of these social media platforms, so individual usage times may vary.
| Platform | Average Daily Time (Hours) |
| TikTok | 2.53 |
| YouTube | 1.93 |
| 1.87 | |
| Snapchat | 1.63 |
| Discord | 1.53 |
| Twitch | 1.21 |
| Tumblr | 1.2 |
How Gen Zers engage with content
We can all be influenced by the content we watch on social media, but what types of content does Gen Z find the most engaging, and which types actually influence them to make purchases?
Data shows that Gen Zers find review videos and storytime videos the most enjoyable to watch (both 67%), followed by nostalgia videos (63%), and advice videos (59%).
Review videos are the most likely to influence Gen Zers to make a purchase, with 53% saying they have bought an item after seeing it in a review video on social media.
| Gen Zers who said they have purchased an item after watching, or enjoyed watching, a particular type of content | ||
| Video Type | Led to a Purchase | Enjoyable to Watch |
| Reviews | 53% | 67% |
| Hauls | 40% | 52% |
| Get ready with me | 37% | 49% |
| Nostalgia | 33% | 63% |
| Routines | 33% | 54% |
| Advice | 32% | 59% |
| Day in the life | 31% | 52% |
| Storytime videos | 26% | 67% |
| News videos | 23% | 54% |
| Discourse videos | 22% | 51% |
How Gen Zers engage with brand content
Gen Z spends hours per day interacting with different types of content on social media, but the way they engage with branded posts varies by platform.
When engaging with branded posts on Instagram, most people in the Gen Z age group prefer short-form videos under 15 seconds (46%). On YouTube, longer videos are more popular, with 50% of Gen Z engaging the most with branded videos over 60 seconds, while 29% are more likely to engage with influencer-sponsored content on this platform.
| YouTube | |||
| Short form video (under 15 seconds) | 46% | Long form video (over 60 seconds) | 50% |
| Static images | 40% | Influencer-sponsored content | 29% |
| Short-form video (15-30 seconds) | 36% | Short form video (15-30%) | 26% |
Gen Z social commerce and shopping
The stats below show how social media is impacting Gen Z’s product discovery and shopping habits:
- Two-thirds (67%) of Gen Z have found a product through a social media video that organically showed up in their feed.
- 77% of Gen Z use TikTok for shopping, making this the most used social platform for making purchases. Other data shows that 58% of TikTok users make purchases through TikTok Shop.
- More than 70% of Gen Z shoppers use social media to research brands and products instead of traditional search engines.
- 41% of Gen Zers use YouTube for in-depth product research before committing to a purchase.
- Almost half (47%) of Gen Zers are actively shopping less on Amazon and choosing alternatives instead, but 44% still start their product search on Amazon.
Gen Z’s use of AI tools
With the use of AI in our professional and personal lives growing rapidly in recent years, how are Gen Zers using these platforms?
- 93% of Gen Zers say they use two or more AI tools per week, such as ChatGPT, DALL-E, and Otter.ai, while 79% of Millennials said they use two or more of these tools per week.
- 88% of Gen Z workers said they would use an AI tool to begin work on a task that felt overwhelming.
- Workers in the Gen Z age group are using AI tools to write emails and documents, take notes, or come up with new ideas.
- 80% of Gen Zers say they will be able to accomplish more by using generative AI tools, and 85% say they have used AI tools at work.
Gen Zers are using AI to grow their careers
There is a growing number of Gen Z job seekers using tools like ChatGPT during the job application process. Data shows that, of those who used ChatGPT, 83% used it to create resumes and 63% used it to craft cover letters.
Gen Zers are also using AI tools to conduct mock interviews, giving them the chance to hone their interview skills, practise their responses, and even learn how to improve their body language, giving them better chances of interview success.
Attitudes towards AI vary by generation
Data shows a clear generational divide in AI attitudes, with skepticism and distrust increasing significantly with age. Baby Boomers are the most negative, with 49% skeptical and 45% distrustful of AI, while only 7% feel excited about it. In contrast, Gen Z shows the most balanced view, with 29% skeptical, 20% excited, and 18% distrustful.
The progression from younger to older generations reveals steadily declining enthusiasm and rising wariness. While Gen Z and Millennials show relatively similar levels of skepticism (29% and 32%), excitement drops notably from Millennials (23%) to Gen X (16%) and plummets to just 7% among Baby Boomers.
This pattern suggests that digital natives who grew up with technology are more receptive to AI’s potential, while older generations who experienced less technology use remain more cautious about artificial intelligence.
| How people of different generations feel about AI | |||
| I’m skeptical of AI | I’m excited about AI | I don’t trust AI | |
| Gen Z | 29% | 20% | 18% |
| Millennials | 32% | 23% | 21% |
| Gen X | 35% | 16% | 25% |
| Baby Boomers | 49% | 7% | 45% |
How different generations access news
The way we get our news has changed drastically in recent decades, with the use of online news platforms growing rapidly while printed news has gradually declined in popularity. Newspaper circulation dropped by 65% between 2000 and 2020, with a 10% drop between 2022 and 2023. Expenditure on newspapers fell to £2 billion in 2022 compared to £9.9 billion in 2005.
Unsurprisingly, people in the Gen Z age group are more likely to get their news from online platforms (83% for 16-24s), with 71% of people in this age group saying they get their news from social media. Older people are the most likely to get their news from offline sources, with 95% of over-75s getting their news from television, and 58% getting news from newspapers.
Gen Z and online dating
When it comes to online dating services like Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, and Match.com, there are clear generational differences in who uses these platforms.
Younger generations are far more likely to use these services; Millennials lead at 40%, closely followed by Gen Z at 37%. Among Gen Xers, 19% use online dating platforms, and only 4% of Baby Boomers use them.
