Almost everyone is using social media, but in different ways Over one-third of Gen Z respondents say they spend more than two hours each day on social media sites; however, millennials are the most active social media users, with 32 percent stating they post either daily or multiple times a day.
How Much Time Does Gen Z Spend on Social Media? Morning Consult reports that 38% of Gen Zers spend over four hours a day on social media: By comparison, only 18% of U.S. adults spend that much time online — showing the generational differences when using social media.
54% of Gen Zers use social media four or more hours daily.
54% of Gen Zers said the average time spent on social media is four or more hours daily. Only 4% of Gen Zers use social media for less than one hour daily. In comparison, 20% of U.S. adults report using social media for this duration.
93% of all Generation Z age groups use social media.
Unlike other generations, baby boomers still are reliant on old media. They still read magazines and watch TV. But they do use social media, majorly to remain in contact with their friends and family. Baby boomers have spent most of their lives without any social media.
Approximately 233 million Americans use social media in 2021. This is a slight increase over 2020. Overall, however, social media usage is only slightly higher in 2021 than 5 years ago.
Over one-third of Gen Z respondents say they spend more than two hours each day on social media sites; however, millennials are the most active social media users, with 32 percent stating they post either daily or multiple times a day.
Bonfini, co-editor of the second edition of Casebook for DSM-5: Diagnosis and Treatment Planning, observes that Generation Z as a whole lacks many of the social skills that previous generations learned through face-to-face interactions.
Gen Zers reported using social media for four or more hours a day (54%) at a rate almost double that of all U.S. adults (28%). Meanwhile, 1 in 5 U.S. adults indicated they use social media for less than 1 hour per day, five times more than the share of Gen Z respondents who said the same (4%).
Gen Zers are known for working, shopping, dating, and making friends online; in Asia, Gen Zers spend six or more hours per day on their phones. Digital natives often turn to the internet when looking for any kind of information, including news and reviews prior to making a purchase.
Gen Z is a generation that has been characterized as having a notoriously short attention span. The average attention span of an individual in this demographic is said to be around 2.7 minutes, which is significantly shorter than the attention spans of previous generations.
A 2022 survey conducted in the United States found that 62 percent of male Generation Z respondents were using TikTok. Additionally, 75 percent of female Gen Z social media users in the U.S. were using the popular short-video app.
"Several issues have caused this, including recent high profile ethical and privacy concerns, increased competition from newer platforms like Tiktok, and getting judged as an app for teens' parents and grandparents," explained "Dr. Dustin York an associate professor of communication at Maryville University.
Gen Z and Millennial Behavior
Dretsch observed that 90% use Instagram daily and, of those, 68% use TikTok in addition to Instagram (only 2% use TikTok and not Instagram).
Why is Gen Z so obsessed with social media? Gen Z is so obsessed with social media because it allows them to connect and build friendships with people all over the world. It's a powerful tool for building community and sharing information. And it's a great way to stay connected with friends and family.
Here are some ways in which social media has influenced Gen Z's purchasing behaviour: Product Discovery: Social media has become a primary source of product discovery for Gen Z consumers. According to a report by GlobalWebIndex, 41% of Gen Z consumers worldwide use social media to learn about new products or services.
Gen Z – 60% of TikTok users are Gen Zers. Gen Zers are trendsetters. Next year, 74 million people in the U.S. will be part of “Gen Z”, which will make it the largest generation of all.
Generation Z is generally alike to Millennials on political and social issues. Generation Z has been reported to be "progressive and pro-government", though this narrative has been challenged, particularly in Europe. The generation is largely in favor of LGBT rights, gender equality, and access to abortion.
As of 2022, the majority of Instagram's audience are Millennial or Gen Z users. In fact, overall, Instagram is Gen Z's favorite social platform.
In the short term, Gen Z's stress is leading to ambivalence and withdrawal in their professional lives. According to 2022 data from Gallup, they are the most disengaged group at work. They also report more overall stress and work-related burnout than other cohorts.
ResumeBuilder.com's survey of 1,344 managers and business suggest that leaders and managers find Gen Z difficult to work with because they: lack technological skills (39%) lack motivation (37%) lack effort (37%) lack productivity (37%)
They're impulsive. Another weakness of Gen Z is that they can be quite impulsive. With instant gratification being so easily accessible, this generation has difficulty waiting for anything. They want what they want and they want it now!
More “media” than “social,” if you will. Gen Z, on the other hand, uses TikTok as more than just an entertainment consumption platform; they use it to communicate. It is a medium for video-based dialogue, it's used to express opinions and build communities of like-minded individuals.
A 2022 survey by Morning Consult found that 54% of Gen Zers said they spend at least four hours daily on social media, and 38% spend even more time than that. Their most used social platforms are YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat.
China has the most social media users worldwide, with around 1021 million (1.02 billion) users as of 2023. Statista predicts that the number of Chinese social media users will reach 1.21 billion in 2027.