Is Facebook Ready For Gen Z?

This past week, our Social Tools and Platforms had an engaging discussion about the future of social media platforms, with a particular focus on Facebook. How long will Facebook maintain its relevance? Hmmm.

Princeton University seems to think Facebook is on the way out — or do they really? In 2014 they published a study concluding that Facebook will undergo a 80% loss in their user base by 2017. Their longtime rival, Harvard (which happens to be Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s Alma Mater) hilariously responded with their own study using the same “correlation equals causation” methodology to prove that Princeton would lose all of its students by 2021.

Who knows, maybe the study was sparked by a rivalry between the two schools, but it does make us think about the future of Facebook and other social media platforms — how will things look in the next 10 years?

Perhaps the best way to predict the future is to consider who will be using social media — let’s consider the Generation Z teenage population (born 1995- present) and the impact they will have.

An article (actually a great slideshow) posted in LinkedIn entitled, “Meet Generation Z: Forget Everything You Learned About Millennials,” makes a great case that Gen Z will define the future. Their primary resource, the “Culture Forecast Report — Gen Z 2025- The Final Generation”- published by sparksandhoney.com, states:

“The future is coming fast, and it is being defined by Gen Z. Resourceful, creative, humble — and always connected — this generation promises to learn from the the past to create a world unlike anything we’ve ever seen. And tomorrow, Gen Z will be your business. To help you become culturally relevant, we’ve built a vision of Gen Z from today to 2025 for everyone from creators to brands and organizations.”

In a recent blog post “Generation Z characteristics: 5 infographics on the Gen Z lifestyle,” Matt Kleinschmit of Vision Critical, points out five key characteristics (using infographics) about Gen Z:

1. Their media consumptions and habits are unique and differ from Millennials (Gen Y). Based on a 2015 exclusive study conducted by Vision Critical, a consumer intelligence software company, they found that:

• Gen Z uses their smartphones more than any other type of device — 15.4 hours per week on average.
• They consume significantly less television than Gen X and baby boomers — 13.2 hours per week (vs. 14.8 and 19.7, respectively).
• They block ads — 41 percent increase ad-blocking software over the last year.

2. Gen Z prefers cool products over cool experiences. Many studies have shown the opposite for Millennials. Check out this infographic from Deep Focus.

3. They are entrepreneurial and tech-savvy. This interesting infographic from NextGeneration Recruitment compares the strengths and weakness of generations X, Y and Z. It shows that “Gen X are considered the best workers, Gen Y are the most passionate and committed to succeed, while Gen Z are tech experts and they are the most connected.”

4. They respond to edgy marketing campaigns. Traditional marketing probably won’t work for this generation. This infographic from Upfront Analytics, shows that “Gen Z customers respond to edgy and visual marketing tactics. Videos — especially short ones like those created via the social network Vine — work particularly well with young customers.”

5. They want to co-create culture. A 2015 market research study from Wildness that looked at 12- 24 year olds in the U.S. concluded that “this ‘post-internet generation’ doesn’t simply consume entertainment — they help create and shape it.”

So if we’re going to discuss the future of Facebook, or any other social media platform for that matter, we may want to focus on Gen Z.