Generation Z Dominate Social Media

Social Media Marketers Tap Into Generation Z Potential

Generation Z were the lab rats for the rise and development of social media. Thrown into the unknown, murky world of online interactions the post-2000 generation has been shaped by the digital age in which they grew up – even millennials (the slightly older demographic born between the 1980s and 1990s) lived a portion of their lives in which the internet, mobile phones and social networking were still slightly foreign concepts. But for the youngest amongst us, social media has made them digital-savvy entrepreneurs before they’re old enough to order a pint.

For sure, the rebellious teen trope still exists – whilst it was behind the back of the bike shed in the 90s, now it’s just switched to the online arena to allow for youthful self-definition and defiance against the prying eyes of parents.

This teenage desire to be part of the accepted crowd feeds the marketability and profitability of social networking apps, as they tap into this social need to interact and connect. Whether it’s a new app about cooking, gaming or photography, the focus is on multi-tasking and sharing content across various platforms. More is more for the younger users on social media.

Countless websites and apps are developed primarily for Generation Z to evade the attention of their parents. Secret, Whisper and Snapchat facilitate just this. Nothing has ever been cool if it’s got your parents’ permission, or even worse as Facebook is discovering, if your parents are getting involved. 

Parents will always be concerned about their children and so it may be a blessing in disguise that the parents of Gen-Z have been quicker to acclimatise and understand the changing world of social networking than the more archaic baby-boomer parents of millennials, who were largely ill-equipped to advise their kids about online threats.

The result is a range of new products that have better privacy and security measures than public networks. Schools are getting more involved online to help with surveillance, guidance and mediation. Private social media networks, like Yammer, are being used in schools so that teachers and parents can monitor what the kids get up to. Of course, this doesn't mean that young people will want, or choose, to use these more secure options, but perhaps it will help to extend their innocence by a few more years – or at least calm parental anxieties.

Katie Rowley

Recent graduate and now interning as content editor, when she's not writing articles Katie can quite likely be found festival-ing, holiday-ing or reading a book (dedicated English student that she is). Follow her @KatieAtSMF.

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