Gen Z's media consumption habits in the United States reveal a strong preference for digital and on-demand content. A 2023 survey found that nearly half of Gen Z respondents watch video streaming services daily, with 43 percent streaming music and 39 percent playing video games. Digital platforms are undeniably at the core of younger audiences’ media diet. Online media consumption leads to higher ad acceptance The prevalence of streaming services in Gen Z's daily routine is complimented by their receptiveness to advertisements on these platforms. Approximately 47 percent of Gen Z adults reported being open to ads on streaming TV – a result significantly higher than that for ads on traditional cable and broadcast TV. This trend aligns with the finding that 88 percent of Gen Z consumers engage with ad-supported video streaming services, indicating a willingness to trade ad exposure for content access. Multiplatform engagement and customization Gen Z's media consumption extends beyond passive viewing, with a focus on personalization and multiplatform engagement. The average Gen Z consumer uses over six video streaming platforms to access TV shows and movies, demonstrating a diverse content appetite across a number of streaming services. Additionally, 92 percent prefer watching content on smartphones, highlighting the popularity of on-the-go video viewing behavior. Gen Z also shows a higher propensity for using subtitles or closed captions when watching shows or movies compared to older generations, which indicates a need for customizable tools to enhance the viewing experiences.

As of September 2023, YouTube as the most popular social media platform for global users, with 97 percent of respondents reporting to use the popular video platform. YouTube was also the most popular social media among Gen Z users, with 96 percent of respondents in this age group reporting to have used the video platform as of the examined period. Facebook's usage kept steady among among the general digital population, with around eight in 10 reporting to have used the platform. In comparison, the social media's popularity was in free fall among gen Z users with only four in 10 among those surveyed reporting to engage with the Meta-powered platform.

A survey conducted in August 2022 found that Gen Z news consumers most frequently get their news from social media, with 50 percent of respondents reporting they used social networks as their news source on a daily basis. There was a general preference for online news sources rather than offline outlets among Gen Z, with only five percent saying that they read local newspapers every day.
News consumption: Gen Z vs. millennials The same 2022 study showed that whilst there were similarities between news consumption among millennials and Gen Z, there were also stark differences between the two groups. Gen Zers were significantly less likely to listen to the radio or watch television for news, and close to 60 percent said that they never read newspapers. Meanwhile, approximately 20 percent of Millennials reported listening to radio news and 15 percent watched cable or network TV on a daily basis.

Despite these differences, both Gen Z and millennial news audiences both demonstrated a clear preference for using social media to get their news. By contrast, Boomers were the least likely group to use social media for news, generally preferring network news for keeping up to date. Indeed, social networks are not without their problems, with consumers growing concerned about the news they find there. Social media and news Except for podcasts, social media is the least trusted news source in the United States. Fake news circulates there easily as consumers either unknowingly or deliberately share such content, and younger generations, who are the heaviest social media users, are at the highest risk of encountering biased, inaccurate, and untrue stories.

The results of a study conducted in the United States in 2024 show that Generation Z consumers spent the majority of their media time accessing it on a phone. Books or magazines accounted for seven percent of the time they spent with media.

A study of media consumption in the United States concluded in August 2024 found that Generation Z respondents spent the largest number of hours daily consuming media - *** hours. The silent generation spent less than **** hours on daily media consumption.

According to the results of a survey carried out in the first quarter of 2023, nearly six in ten U.S. shoppers aged 18 to 26 looked for product information on Amazon, while 43 percent preferred Walmart.com. Social networks also played an important role in pre-purchase search, with TikTok and YouTube being the most used platforms for this purpose.

As of September 2024 in the United Kingdom, 98 percent of Generation Z, those born between 1995 and 2012, were using social media. The same was true for 97 percent of millennials in the country. Overall, 92 percent of Gen X were on social networks, as were 86 percent of Baby boomers.

Data from a survey held in August 2022 in the United States revealed that the most popular news source among millennials was social media, with 45 percent of respondents reporting daily news consumption on social networks. This was more than double the share who got their news via radio. When it comes to trust, though, social media does not fare well.

Social media and news consumption

As adults of all ages spend more and more time on social media, news consumption via this avenue is likely to increase, but something which could affect this trend is the lack of trust in the news consumers encounter on social platforms. Although now the preferred option for younger audiences, social networks are among the least trusted news sources in the United States, and concerns about fake news remain prevalent.

Young audiences and fake news

Inaccurate news is a major problem which worsened during the 2016 and 2020 presidential election campaigns and the COVID-19 pandemic. A global study found that most Gen Z and Millennial news consumers ignored fake coronavirus news on social media, but almost 20 percent interacted with such posts in the comments section, and over seven percent shared the content. Younger news consumers in the United States were also the most likely to report feeling overwhelmed by COVID-19 news. As younger audiences were the most likely to get their updates on the outbreak via social media, this also made them the most susceptible to fake news, and younger generations are also the most prone to ‘doomscrolling’, an addictive act where the reader pursues and digests multiple negative or upsetting news articles in one sitting.

Regression linear (patch coefficient independent variable and dependent variable to antecedent variable) as part of path analysis using IBM SPSS Statistics 26 for research title "Doomscrolling and Information Overload on Generation Z: Examining the Link Between Excessive Digital Media Consumption and Stress Level".

The period of isolation caused by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 changed the social media and entertainment services usage habits among Generation Z Poles. Fifty-six percent of those surveyed played PC and console games more frequently. Mobile games were also more regularly enjoyed by every second Pole aged 18 to 25 years old. For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

According to a survey conducted in the United States between July 2023 and June 2024, 65 percent of Generation Z were using Meta's Instagram, and 63 percent were using YouTube. Moreover, 58 percent of Gen Z in the United States were on TikTok, and 56 percent were using Facebook.

Pre-test analysis Y variable (excessive digital media consumption) results using IBM SPSS Statistics 26 for research title "Doomscrolling and Information Overload on Generation Z: Examining the Link Between Excessive Digital Media Consumption and Stress Level".

Gen Z and Millennials are the biggest social media users of all age groups.

Dataset Details

This dataset contains a rich collection of popular slang terms and acronyms used primarily by Generation Z. It includes detailed descriptions of each term, its context of use, and practical examples that demonstrate how the slang is used in real-life conversations. The dataset is designed to capture the unique and evolving language patterns of GenZ, reflecting their communication style in digital spaces such as social media, text messaging, and online forums. Each… See the full description on the dataset page: https://huggingface.co/datasets/MLBtrio/genz-slang-dataset.

Pre-test analysis Y variable (excessive digital media consumption) results using IBM SPSS Statistics 26 for research title "Doomscrolling and Information Overload on Generation Z: Examining the Link Between Excessive Digital Media Consumption and Stress Level".

Questionnaire as instrument research for research title "Doomscrolling and Information Overload on Generation Z: Examining the Link Between Excessive Digital Media Consumption and Stress Level".

VK was the most popular social media app among Russian Generation Z representatives, occupying over 40 percent of the total app traffic spent on social networks in the first half of 2021. The second-leading platform was Instagram, accounting for approximately one third of social media app traffic of Gen Z users.

In 2021, messaging and video sharing platform Snapchat was more popular than TikTok among Gen Z users in the United States. TikTok counted around 37 million users who were born between 1997 and 2012, while Instagram reported around 33 million users in the same period. Snapchat, which counted 42 million Gen Z users, is projected to reach 49.5 million users in the examined demographic by 2025. Overall, platforms such as Pinterest, Twitter and Reddit had significantly less users amongst this age group.

Approximately 93 percent of representatives of Generation Z in Russia had accounts on social networks, which was the most common media outlet for the group in 2021. A little over one half of Gen Z watched television at least once a week.

According to a survey of social media users aged between 16 and 24 years in the United Kingdom, 71 percent of respondents used the Instagram mobile app daily as of October 2022. Approximately seven in 10 respondents reported using social video app TikTok and YouTube on a daily basis, respectively. New social app app BeReal, which prompts users to post content once per day, was used by less than three in 10 respondents aged between 16 and 24 years.