In a survey of millennial consumers in the U.S., around 31 percent of women said Instagram had the most influence on their shopping habits, compared to 25 percent of the men surveyed. Younger millennials between the ages of 25 and 29 stated they were most influenced by more visual content-focused platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. Meanwhile, those in their 30s and 40s said Facebook was the primary platform shaping their shopping behavior.

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.

As of September 2018, 21 percent of U.S. Twitter users were between 25 and 34 years old. Furthermore, 55 to 64 year olds accounted for the same amount of U.S. Twitter audiences. A separate study from April 2019 shows that the majority of U.S. Twitter users in the United States were male. Twitter users in the United States While constantly standing in the shadow of more popular social networking services Facebook or Instagram, Twitter is one of the biggest social networks worldwide. In 2019, it was found that 22 percent of adults in the United States used the microblogging service, down from 24 percent in the previous year. The United States was also the online market with the biggest Twitter audiences, ahead of Japan and the United Kingdom. Twitter reported 68 million monthly active Twitter users in the United States as of the first quarter of 2019. Twitter marketing Twitter is also a popular platform for marketers to promote their businesses. During a 2018 survey, 62 percent of responding global marketers stated that they used Twitter for marketing purposes. However, according to internet users in the United States, the platform ranked behind all other social media platforms in terms of shopping influence.

The statistic shows information on the attitudes of influencer marketing audiences towards social media influencers worldwide as of February 2018, by age group. It was discovered that 57 percent of respondents aged between 18 and 24 years said they shared the same passion or interests with influencers, whereas the same was true for only 47 percent of respondents between the ages of 25 and 34.

WhatsApp, Facebook and YouTube ranked as the most popular social media for Dutch Millennials or 20-to-39-year-olds in 2020, beating, for example, Instagram. In 2020, roughly 90 percent of the Millennial respondents in the Netherlands said they used WhatsApp. Facebook was also popular, with 82 percent indicating they actively used this platform. Both social networks had over ten million users in the country, of which 9.1 million were daily users for WhatsApp and 6.8 million for Facebook.

Millennials are less active on Facebook

Despite that Facebook ranks as the second-most popular social media platform, the Silicon Valley application experienced upheaval in the Netherlands. In a different question asked by the source, 57 percent of the Millennials agreed with a statement that said they spent less time on Facebook than they used to. Privacy concerns were one possible explanation for this. Some respondents also mentioned, though, that the platform had become too time-consuming and would rather spend it on “real life” activities.

Instagram and Snapchat a gateway to Generation Z, not Millennials

Are Dutch Millennials leaving Facebook then for other social networks, such as Instagram or Snapchat? The ranking provided here does to indicate that the 23-to-37-year-olds are part of the user base of the two photo apps. Data looking at the growing penetration rate of the two platforms by different age groups in the Netherlands confirms this. This same data does mention, though, that consumers aged 15-19 used the apps a lot more. Between 2015 and 2018, Instagram’s penetration rate among Generation Z increased by roughly 25 percentage points whilst the youngest generation was the first in the Netherlands to use Snapchat.

In 2023, Instagram claimed the top spot as the preferred social media platform for shopping among Gen Z and millennial consumers. However, Gen Z also showed an inclination towards shopping via TikTok, while millennials leaned towards both YouTube and Facebook over the trendy Chinese short-video platform. Conversely, older generations exhibited similar preferences for social commerce, with both favoring Facebook and YouTube over the more visually appealing Instagram and TikTok.

This statistic shows the share of retailers in the United States who plan to increase vs. decrease their marketing spend on consumers as of January 2018, broken down by generation. The findings reveal that 65 percent of U.S. retailers planned to increase their marketing spending to consumers aged between 13 and 19 years, whereas 27 percent planned to decrease their spend on consumers aged 71 or above.

The statistic shows the negative attitudes of internet users towards advertising in online videos in the United States as of the second quarter of 2018, by age group. According to the findings, 57 percent of respondents aged between 15 to 25 years were annoyed with ads in online videos and held a negative viewpoint towards them.

This statistic presents the weekly time spent by U.S. adults watching videos on a smartphone, sorted by age group. During the first quarter of 2018, it was found that adults aged 18 to 34 years spent an average of 105 minutes consuming mobile videos per week.

The statistic shows the negative attitudes of internet users towards advertising on websites in the United States as of the second quarter of 2018, by age group. According to the findings, 57 percent of internet users aged 56 years and older were annoyed with ads on websites and held a negative viewpoint towards them.

A report held in June 2022 among Gen Z and millennials in the United States found that these consumers, aged 16 to 40 years old, were using Facebook most often, with 40 percent saying they did so daily or more. LinkedIn, Twitch, and Nextdoor were the least used social sites for news, whereas YouTube and Instagram were used almost as often as Facebook in this respect.

The statistic shows the main network used for television news among consumers in the United States as of May 2018, by age. During the survey, 24 percent of respondents from the 55+ age group stated that FOX News was their main network used for TV news.

This statistic presents the weekly time spent by U.S. adults watching videos online, sorted by age group. During the first quarter of 2018, it was found that adults aged 18 to 34 years spent an average of 94 minutes consuming online videos via PC per week.

According to a survey among internet users conducted in Vietnam by Decision Lab as of the third quarter of 2024, Facebook was considered the primary social media platform by 43 percent of the Millennial respondents. Meanwhile, 24 percent of them listed the Vietnamese platform Zalo as their primary app.

According to a survey conducted in the United States between July 2023 and June 2024, Millennials made up 37 percent of social media users in the country. Overall, Generation Z accounted for one quarter of the United States' social media audience, and Generation Z made up 28 percent. Additionally, Baby boomers accounted for just ten percent of users.

A 2024 global survey explored what Gen Z and millennial travelers thought of destinations they visited after seeing it on social media or promoted by an influencer. While 26 percent of the sample mentioned that the destination was somewhat better than expected, a quarter said that it was just as they had imagined it. Meanwhile, only nine percent of respondents mentioned that the visited travel destination was somewhat worse than expected.

According to a survey run in Spain in March 2023, 86 percent of Millennial respondents used WhatsApp, making it the most popular social media platform in the country among that population group. Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube followed closely, with an audience reach of 75 percent, 74 percent, and 73 percent respectively.

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.

According to a global survey conducted in 2021, respondents who belonged to Generation Z reported spending on average three hours per day on social media. Overall, Millennials stated that they spent 2.25 hours per day on online social platforms. Those belonging to the Baby boomer generation spent an average one hour on social media, daily.

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.