Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter are all revolutionary social media platforms that are the cornerstone of modern day social media usage and the most commonly used apps, but what if I told you that eventually some of these social media sites would lose their status and people wouldn’t really use them anymore?
The trend is already starting to go that way. Generation Z — or Gen Z — consists of every person born from approximately 1995 to 2015. Coming directly after the millennial generation, Gen Z has grown up with the most innovative technology the world has ever seen. People born in Gen Z have been characterized as wanting cool products instead of cool experiences and being glued to their phones. This generation needs to be constantly entertained. The average attention span of Gen Z is eight seconds and approximately 11 percent have ADHD. This requires social media platforms to be constantly changing and innovating, but some have fallen short.
Facebook has taken the biggest hit. Among users age 12-34, Facebook has seen a 15 percent decline in usage. Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook is the largest social media platform in the world, and has the largest number of users with 2.27 billion at the start of the third quarter in 2018. The largest number of Facebook users comes from the baby boomer generation, but with Generation Z and millennials having most of the purchasing power and market control, Facebook will have to change their site to market more towards these younger generations or they will continue to have user decline and disinterest.
Twitter, probably considered to be the most “trendy” among Gen Z users, has also seen a decline in the past year. Twitter and Facebook both had a solid increase from 2016 to 2017, but both saw a stark decline from 2017 to 2018. Twitter usage declined over a million in the second quarter of 2018.
Generation Z is going to be the determining force of the social media platforms future. Instagram and Snapchat have the most users from Generation Z. They have catered their apps and websites to this generation and in turn have seen great increases in usage year after year. They try and stay relevant to the best of their abilities, updating their technology constantly and responding to the younger generation’s complaints and needs for their social media usage.
Gen Z is predicted to be the most wealthy. Because of growing up in an economically unstable environment and learning from millennials' economic mistakes and shortcomings, they currently, and will continue to have an abundance of purchasing power. This means they will pay for and use the social media they like the best. Generation Z likes technology that is inspired by youth culture, according to Jeff Fromm, an expert on millennials, Generation Z and innovation.
These social media platforms will have to fit their brand with Generation Z’s wants and needs or they will no longer stay relevant. This is apparent with Facebook. While Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg are pioneers of social media, they have not captured the attention of Generation Z in full force. It seems as if they are still targeting their baby boomer generation users and millennials, but with the growing power of Gen Z, they are going to have to switch gears.
Gen Z is the future of all innovation and market control, and it wants social media to be faster, more unique and youth-culture oriented. The social media platforms that don’t make adjustments to cater to Generation Z will be left behind in the dust.