The anti-social generation

When describing Gen Z, most marketers would say things like 'digital native', 'tech-savvy', or 'glued to that phone'.

And they’re right—kind of. While Gen Zers spend an average of 3 hours and 6 minutes on social per day, a report from McKinsey found that they are using social media more passively than other generations, with 43% rarely or never posting or contributing to platform conversations.

Growing up with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and—for those really in the trenches—Tumblr, Gen Z was raised with an understanding of early internet culture and the social norms established on its platforms. These platforms were social hubs driven by pressure to engage and be engaged with, with the need for likes and comments leading to unofficial 'rules' for content creation. 

These expectations escalated the time and effort it took to have an 'acceptable' social media presence. As Gen Z grows up, they subvert these expectations. Among sporadic photo dumps and a healthy apprehension of sponsored content, these shifts in attitudes have fundamentally changed how marketers should measure success on social media.

Pinterest

One of the major impacts on Gen Z’s internet behavior is the Pinterest Renaissance, the phenomenon that saw young social media users flocking back to the platform. In 2023, 40% of monthly users on Pinterest were part of Gen Z. 

Its personalised, 1-on-1 experience is the second component–the emphasis on inspiration over socialization makes Pinterest cool, and helps a generation known for thinking outside of the box stay ahead of trends.

TikTok

TikTok understood from the jump that brands don’t need to start and maintain conversation to be relevant—they need to entertain to stay top-of-mind with Gen Z. 

When 68% of Gen Z uses social media for entertainment instead of messaging and communication, TikTok’s tagline 'don’t make ads, make TikToks' rings true for brands even outside the short-form video space. Brands that understand internet culture and the implications of specific sounds, memes and video formats have power. Brands that invest in TikTok are successful because they understand the digital culture in which they exist—they know how to ride the cringe line and know their place in the platform ecosystem. 

Beyond this, they understand that TikTok isn’t just an entertainment platform; it’s a search engine. A recent study from Her Campus Media found that over half of Gen Z uses TikTok for search. Understanding that traffic comes from two directions—the FYP algorithm and search—brands’ should formulate social SEO strategies and evaluate their content mix to ensure what they are putting out is equal parts educational and entertaining.

Instagram

We’ve seen this shift to more anti-social engagement from Gen Z play out on Instagram. The platform acknowledged these shifts back in 2019 when it gave users the option to hide likes on their posts, incentivizing higher-quality content rather than engagement fodder. 

Since then, Instagram has continued to support alternate forms of engagement, like shares and saves, with the addition of intra-platform group chats, private collections where users can sort saved content and more features within the DM page, like Notes. Adapting the user experience to grow with Gen Z also gives brands more places to reach this market.

Why should marketers care?

If anybody needs a sign to reevaluate their approach to engaging with emerging generations, this is it.

Forget the assumption that consumers want to be directly acknowledged by and engage with brands on social channels. While this may have been true five or 10 years ago, Gen Z is more likely to cringe when brands comment on content that feels out-of-place and irrelevant than applaud them for their relatability.

What to do now

While likes and comments aren’t Gen Z’s primary form of engagement, word-of-mouth is still a strong consideration driver. Making it into the group chat is valuable in expanding reach and sustaining conversation. With growing skepticism of branded anything among this generation, it’s better to be recommended by trusted voices than say something yourself.

Look at new measures of success. Is more traffic coming from search on TikTok? Is Pinterest driving conversation? Is a higher proportion of engagement concentrated in shares and saves? Consider these factors when looking at ROI from social efforts. 

Appealing to the “anti-social generation” is not a matter of driving conversation, but inspiration. Get back to the basics of content strategy—meet Gen Zers where they are, understand their needs and find where your brand promise intersects. 

Content creation and community management practices should always be relevant to your brand and add value to the user. Invest in platforms that put inspiration and entertainment at the core, and long-term trust and engagement will follow.

Maggie Carpenter is a social media strategist at Luquire.