Riding Gen Z's Coattails of Social Media Approach to Adulthood

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As a visual artist, Instagram caught my attention early on as an alternative to Facebook in that it promoted one image, starkly, in a square format (my favorite). Because younger people in my family, namely nieces and daughters of Gen Z, use Instagram -and most definitely not Facebook- it is also an important bridge to their information world. I get a glimpse of where they have recently been and learn of new places or aspects thereof. A few of them are now on Linkedin, which is another helpful information line from me to them. However, they are also using several other platforms such as TikTok, Be Real and Snapchat to communicate directly with their peers; I can best reach them via the more traditional mode of text or telephone from my wheelhouse. As dannah boyd titled her book, It's Complicated. The profound need of younger people to connect with their friends drives their social media choices. Imagery for them is ephemeral; it’s not meant to be the kind of artwork that I may seek out in Instagram meandering. It is often used creatively for making their points and fits into their texting narratives. In my mind I conceptualize these various platforms as a flow of options, and it’s impossible to know who is using what platform the most and with whom. Said younger family members may have begun using yet another new social media form as I have been composing this; new platforms can gain in popularity that quickly! What I’m getting at here is, what social media modes do younger people use that may overlap with the social media use of millennials and older generations? eMarketer/Insider Intelligence paints the landscape for us:              

Comments

  1. Natalie StansburySeptember 11, 2023 at 6:16 PM

    Ha! I laugh because I think about the fact that my generation (Gen X) was the first to experience the internet and social media, yet honestly, most of us struggle to figure any of it out. We were on the cusp of the world going digital and it is our own children that are the true digital natives, although it appears here Gen Zers are the all-knowing social media gurus. The video shared by Dr. Sun showing the trends of social media over the years is fascinating to me and is a good precursor to the thoughts in this article. The overlaps are shown as well as the rise and fall of social media sites. I find it interesting the changes happening in facebook for example. My children (millennials) always told me Facebook was for old people, and they chose for the most part not to join, or created accounts but did not use them. However, I am noticing as they get older some of their friends are joining. I am also seeing an increase in current high school students that I know through working with HS students, using Facebook now. These trends, as anything else, fluctuate. Bell bottoms came back. Maybe one day writing letters with pen and paper will too....nah...

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