Posting a poorly punctuated and borderline invasive status update like, “hey everyone!!! I’m getting popcorn right now!!!” used to be a normal thing to see when Millennials just entered the world of social media. Now, Gen Z wouldn’t be caught dead posting a status update (especially when that phrase has become outdated) about their every move. Instead, it’s all about looking chill while still being selective about what others see, at least on the posts that stick around. But what exactly changed, why, and how are they interacting on socials now?
YPulse’s Social Media Behavior report found that the majority of young social media users are just there to consume and observe. When we ask what kind of social media user they are, 79% say they’re a “viewer: I rarely post my own content” as opposed to 21% who say a “creator: I post my own content regularly.” We also ask users how often they personally post their own photos or videos on social media and their top answer is monthly, by a large margin—and daily comes in last, with only 5% saying so. This aligns with the steady monthly or seasonal “photo dump” trend on Instagram in particular, where Gen Z recap things they did in the last 30 days or so in a carousel post as a sort of highlight reel. Rather than posting every time they go somewhere or make something, posing it perfectly, and captioning with hashtags, they’re playing well-practiced chill.
To find out more about how young people are really using social media now, YPulse’s Social Media Monitor asks 13-39-year-olds to select from a list what they’ve done on social media in the last week. New trends are clear, as each age group of young people has certain stand-out behaviors:
Gen Z is constantly in the comments—which means brands should be, too
Comments are the fuel of social media content. It’s where creators and brands can engage with their followings, get feedback and ideas for new content, and build community. And young consumers are more likely to regularly read the comments on a post than do anything else on their socials—58% say they’ve read the comments on a social media post in the last week and almost half (48%) have written their own comment on someone’s post.
But teen users specifically prove to be the most active commenters: 63% of 13-17-year-olds have read the comments on a social post in the last week and 53% have written their own comment on a post. Teens are also the most likely to have tagged their friends in the comments within the last week, which usually means they want to share a good meme with their friends or know their friend will relate to the post. And while they could do that through DMs, the comments are just as active as a chat now.
This makes the comment section a great space for brands to engage with Gen Z. Like YPulse’s Social Media Playbook advises, brands can reply to comments on their own posts or join in on convos happening on other accounts to build their brand personality and community. While replying to comments on your own posts is a great start, the next level play is nonchalantly joining the conversations happening across other accounts. Brands like Duolingo and Wendy’s have already mastered the comment section with witty remarks, and more brands are getting on board. Want to learn exactly how to comment like Gen Z? We have a whole article on it here.
Young adults are posting pics on their stories over main feeds
It’s safe to say young adults 18-24-years-old prefer posting to their stories rather than their main feeds. They’re the most likely age group to have posted a photo on their stories within the last week (36% vs 33% of 25-39-year-olds and 31% of 13-17-year-olds). Meanwhile, they’re also the least likely to have posted to their main feeds within the last week: only 20% have compared to 29% of 25-39-year-olds and 35% of 13-17-year-olds. It’s also important to note that this is the group who were young teens when Snapchat became popular, so stories are essentially their norm.
There’s an unspoken Gen Z rule that suggests posting a posed, filtered pic on Instagram is embarrassing now—everything is about looking candid, starkly the opposite of Millennials’ Instagram reign. Instead, a quick story post that goes away in 24 hours is the casual way, a “safer route”to post without worrying about looking back and cringing.
For 18-24-year-olds, social media went from friends following one another to now every piece of content involuntarily entering a competition with the rest of the world to reach as many eyes as possible. Even if they’re not trying to go viral and just want to share a sweet moment like a night out with friends, if it gets a small number of likes it can feel like a flop or that they’re falling short, comparing themselves to influencers and creators with huge followings and seemingly perfect lives. But of course, even blurry photo dumps are carefully curated, and when they don’t fit into an aesthetic mold, it might not feel worth “permanently” posting to their feeds as a representation of their digital personalities.
