OVER 100+
EYE OPENING
FACTS ABOUT
GENERATION Z
CURATED YOUTH INSIGHTS +
SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT TIPS

A 2015 FORBES STUDY ESTIMATED
GENERATION Z MADE UP ABOUT
25% OF THE U.S. POPULATION.

‘‘ACCORDING TO THE MOST RECENT U.S. CENSUS ESTIMATES,
GEN Z IS ABOUT 20 MILLION STRONG AND PROJECTED TO HIT
23 MILLION BY 2020. IN ADDITION, OTHER DEMOGRAPHIC
RESEARCH ESTIMATES THAT THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST
DIVERSE GROUPS IN UNITED STATES HISTORY.
WHO IS GEN Z?
Members of Generation Z are currently 18 years and younger with
a birth year between 2001 and 2025.

WHOIAM
Givescredit
toothers
GlobalWorld
Citizen
CreativeSensitiveto
others
ChangeAgent
&Do-gooder
MediaMaker
OptimisticOutgoing InquisitiveCulturally
Diverse
PlayfulConnectedall
thetime
PERSONALITY
COMMON GENERATION Z
ATTRIBUTES

GEN Z DIGITAL EXPERIENCE
ATTRIBUTES
Gen Z, more than any other generation is driven by digital experiences.
These digital experiences are being fueled by changes in the characteristics
of Gen Z and the ways in which they use new technologies to exchange
information and communicate.
Gen Z has always had the
ability to multi-task and
handle multiple streams
of information and juggle
both short and long term
information and/or
learning goals.
ON-DEMAND
Gen Z expects to pick and use
various types of media and
create a personalized “mash-
up” of content. Students also
use social media as a way
to express their identity and
creativity through creation of
user-generated content.
INTERACTIVE
Gen Z learns best through
observation, collaboration,
intrinsic motivation, and from
self-organizing social systems
comprised of peers. This can
take place in either a virtual
(messaging, virtual reality) or
in-person environment.
COLLABORATIVE
Brand awareness and Gen Z
customer acquisition takes
place only when situated
in a social and authentic
context.
AUTHENTIC

GEN Z ADAPTIVE SURVIVAL
STRATEGIES
Gen Z’s came of age in an economic downturn, seeing their Millennial siblings
struggling with huge student loan debt and living through a cascade of social
media amplified tragedies like Hurricane Sandy, terror attacks, and mass
shootings like Sandy Hook.
For them, life has always been a 24/7 hybrid social media reality show and as
a result they have consciously or unconsciously developed “adaptive survival
strategies” for navigating their always connected world.

GEN Z ADAPTIVE SURVIVAL
STRATEGIES (CONTINUED)
These pragmatic youth are natural preparers in the face of an unpredictable
world – whether planning for physical safety in light of violence, or prepping
for their futures in a more uncertain economic climate.
Accustomed to high school intruder drills, they are always in “exit strategy”
mode, with over a third agreeing they “plot out escape plans when in public
places”, because of events like Sandy Hook.
Although half are scared of violence at school, they seem to have adopted
a practical “Keep Calm and Carry On” mentality.
LIFE-PREPPING

GEN Z ADAPTIVE SURVIVAL
STRATEGIES (CONTINUED)
Gen Z are consciously taking time to self-soothe, (a classic coping mechanism
from hyper-stimulation) disconnect, de-stress, de-stimulate, and control inputs.
8 in 10 Gen Z agree that “Sometimes I just need to unplug and enjoy the
simple things.”
82% agree “when I’m stressed or overwhelmed, I like to stop and just do
one thing at a time.”
57% like to take a break from technology to make things with their hands.
54% of 14 - 17 year old girls say baking makes them feel less anxious.
MONO-TASKING

GEN Z ADAPTIVE SURVIVAL
STRATEGIES (CONTINUED)
This is the first generation of “digital latchkey kids.” Though increasingly
physically protected by parents, digital behavior is not as closely monitored.
But like the Gen X Latchkey Kids who created their own rules and regimes
while parents worked, youth today are surprisingly filtering out what’s
overwhelming to them online: avoiding certain Youtube videos or sites that
they think are gross, inappropriate, or disturbing.
They’re slimming down their social networks and finding niche/private places
to share in a controlled environment, whether it’s Snapchat or a locked
Instagram feed.
HYPER-FILTERING

NOTHING IS MORE CENTRAL TO
GEN Z THAN A MOBILE DEVICE.
Mobile devices are the gateway to communication (via texting),
socialization (through apps like Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter & Tumblr)
and staying in touch with family/friends (through messaging apps).

GEN Z MOBILE TRENDS
The most recent Pew Research Tweens & Tech
report delved into the mobile habits of tweens.
The big (but not surprising) takeaway is that 88% of
American youth ages 13 to 17 have or have access
to a mobile phone of some kind, and a majority of
tweens (73%) have smart-phones.

MINORITY YOUTH &
MOBILE PHONE USAGE
For many minority youth, mobile devices (smart-phones & tablets) are their
only access point to the internet and social media sites. This is largely due to
the lack of broadband access in urban areas.
African-American youth are the most likely of any racial or ethnic group to have
or have access to a smart-phone; 85% of African-American youth report smart-
phone ownership, compared with 71% of Caucasian and 71% of Hispanic youth.

FOR GEN Z, OWNING A CELL
PHONE HAS SHIFTED FROM
A LUXURY TO A NECESSITY.
With each passing year, children are receiving their own
mobile technology earlier than ever before and becoming
increasingly reliant on it. Ironically in many ways tweens
do not need cell phones, but rather they just get them.

EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT
TO MOBILE DEVICES
As children become tweenagers, receiving a phone becomes just another
rite of passage that allows them to be further connected with their peers and
it is now a social norm to have one at an early age.
Additional research from the Pew Research Center stated that “nearly
three- quarters of teens have or have access to a smart-phone and 30%
have a basic phone, while just 12% of teens 13 to 17 say they have no cell
phone of any type”.

EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT
TO MOBILE DEVICES
(CONTINUED)
These numbers are only on the rise and the fact that the majority of Gen Z’s own
a cell phone has become one of this generation’s defining characteristics. As
a result of the device functionality “24% of tweens and teens go online ‘almost
constantly’”. This trend is generally occurring in many countries across the globe
but is specifically occurring in the United States.

MOBILE INTERNET USE
Gen Z are also going online frequently. Aided by the convenience and
constant access provided by mobile phones, 92% report going online
daily — with 24% using the Internet “almost constantly,” 56% go online
several times a day, and 12% reporting once-a-day use.
The Pew survey shows that 91% of tweens and teens
go online from a mobile device, at least occasionally.
91%

MOBILE INTERNET USE
(CONTINUED)
Source: Pew Research Center’s Teens Relationships Survey, Sept. 25-Oct. 9, 2014 and Feb. 10-Mar. 16, 2015. (n=1,060 teens ages 13 to 17). Note: Percentages marked with a superscriptletter (e.g.,*) indicate a
statistically significant difference between that row and the row designated by that superscript letter, among categories of each demographic characteristics (e.g. age). PEW RESEARCH CENTER
% Of all teens who have or have access to a desktop, laptop or tablet computers
All teens
SEX
Boys
Girls
RACE / ETHNICITY
White, non-Hispanic
Black, non-Hispanic
Hispanic
AGE
13-14
15-17
SEX BY AGE
Boys 13-14
Boys 15-17
Girls 13-14
Girls 15-17
HOUSEHOLD INCOME
<$30K
$30K - $49,999
$50K - $74,999
$75K+
PARENT EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT
Less than high school
High school
Some college
College+
URBANITY
Urban
Suburban
Rural
87%
87
88
91de
79
82
84
90f
83
89
85
90
78
83
88l
92lm
73
88p
89p
92p
83
89t
89
58%
54
62a
57
54
62
61
56
55
53
67hi
58
48
45
59lm
65lm
51
51
65pq
59
56
59
55
Desktop or
Laptop Access
Desktop or
Laptop Access
Tablet
Access
Tablet
Access

MOBILE INTERNET USE
(CONTINUED)
Nearly three-quarters (73%) have a smart-phone while just 12% of tweens 13 to 17
say they have no cell phone of any type. More than half of Gen Z have access to
a tablet; 87% have a desktop or laptop.
African-American and Hispanic youth report going online with greater frequency
than Caucasian youth. About a third (34%) of African-American youth and 32% of
Hispanic youth report going online “almost constantly,” while 19% of Caucasian
youth go online that often.

A key insight we learned in 2015 from our Youthvine
community was that both tweens and teens have little
differentiation between a “web based browser”
experience versus a “mobile app” driven experience.
TO THEM IT’S ALL JUST “THE INTERNET.”

GEN Z TECHNOLOGY
TRENDS
Tweens are “mobile homesteaders” – who use a variety of apps to share,
communicate, and show off to their friends.
We asked 300 Youthvine tweens what device they use as their primary
connection to the Internet, 77% reported using both websites and mobile
apps, 19% reported using only mobile apps, and (4%) reported using
desktop computers as their primary connection.
Nearly all of the tweens surveyed have access to a mobile device (smart-
phone, tablet) with the majority owning an iOS device (43%), followed by
Android (15%), and Windows (6%).

GEN Z TECHNOLOGY
TRENDS (CONTINUED)
Tweens move seamlessly between mobile devices and PCs, 41% cited
using only mobile devices.
42% self-report spending at least 2 hours a day using social media, 35%
report 1 hour a day, and 15% who spend 5 hours a day on social sites.
Most of their online time is spent consuming and sharing media through
social media apps: 61% report using messaging apps (including texting and
SMS) as a primary form of communication and sharing among friends.
Tweens said they were MORE likely to use YouTube (26%), Instagram
(24%), Snapchat (20%), and Vine (14%) during the 2014-2015 school year.

TWEENS &
MESSAGING APPS
Nearly all of tween cell phone owners use text messaging — either directly
through their mobile phones or through an app or a website.
In a testament to the shifting landscape
of texting, one third (33%) of tweens with
cell phones use messaging apps like Kik,
Facebook Messenger, or WhatsApp.
33%

TWEENS &
MESSAGING APPS
(CONTINUED)
However, tweens on the lower end of the income spectrum are also
more likely to use messaging apps on their smart-phones, with 39% of
cell-owning tweens from households earning less than $50,000 annually
using the apps, compared with 31% of tweens from wealthier families.
Girls are also a bit more likely than boys to use messaging apps, with 37% of
cell-owning girls using them compared with 29% of boys with cell phones.
Use of these apps varies little by the age of the tween.

SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS
In a Pew Internet study, when asked a general question about whether they used
social media, three-quarters (76%) of Gen Z use social media.
When asked about seven specific sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat,
Tumblr, Google+, and Vine), and given the option to report another site used, 89%
of Gen Z reported that they used at least one of the sites and two-thirds of tweens
(71%) reported using two or more sites.

SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS
While there are many social and digital channels to occupy the attention of this
demographic, we feel that the following are the primary platforms where tweens
gather and are most likely to create and share content with their colleagues and
drive positive brand associations.
We see youth today even more adept at developing their unique persona from
a young age, realizing both the need to stand out to get social media likes and,
moreover, showcase a unique side to get noticed in a highly competitive college
admission process, or if they’re lucky - fame as a YouTuber or IGer!

FACEBOOK
Despite numerous reports that “teens don’t
use Facebook”, it remains the most popular
of all the social media platforms, with 71% of
all tweens saying they use Facebook.
Boys and girls are equally likely to report
using the platform, but older users ages 15
to 17 are more likely to use it than younger
users 13 to 14. Much of the difference is
located within the youngest age group — the
13-year-olds — of whom less than half (44%)
say they use Facebook, while of 77% of 14-to
17-year-olds report use.

INSTAGRAM
First launched in 2010, Instagram has
become a mainstay for adolescent
social media users.
More than half (52%) of all Gen Z report using
Instagram to share photos and videos with
friends, with girls substantially more likely to
use it than boys (61% to 44%). The typical
American tween who uses Instagram has
150 followers in their network. Girls outpace
boys in their typical number of followers, with
girls reporting a median of 200 followers on
Instagram compared with 100 followers for boys.

SNAPCHAT
Snapchat is another relatively new
photo and video focused sharing app
that Gen Z have embraced in the last
two and half years.
Two-in-five American tweens (41%) use
Snapchat to share images and videos that
are then automatically deleted within a
predetermined amount of time — usually a
few seconds. By a wide margin, girls and older
tweens are the most likely to send snaps —
with half of girls using the service, compared
with 31% of boys.

VINE
Roughly one quarter of Gen Z (24%) use
Vine, an app that allows users to record
and share short, six-second videos.
Vine is used by more girls than boys, with 27%
of young females using the app compared with
20% of young males.

YOUNOW
YouNow is a video-based social
networking site that allows users to watch
and create interactive live stream videos.
This platform is wildly popular with tweens
and teens and allows them to interact with a
new breed of live broadcasters.

TUMBLR
Tumblr is a microblogging service
where users can curate and share
posts of mostly visual content they
create themselves or find elsewhere
on the web. About one-inseven (14%)
tweens use Tumblr.
Tumblr is predominately used by girls in this
age group with 23% of girls 13 to 17 using the
service, compared with just 5% of boys the
same age. Much of this is driven by the oldest
girls (ages 15 to 17) of whom 27% report using
Tumblr. Overall, older tweens are modestly
more likely to use Tumblr than younger
tweens, with 10% of 13- to 14-year-olds and
16% of 15-to 17-year-olds using it.

GEN Z MEDIA
CONSUMPTION TRENDS
When it comes to content, social video is the clear winner. Younger Gen Z are
most drawn to YouTube, with 85% stating they use the service to stream videos,
10 percentage points higher than older Gen Z. Overall, Gen Z represents a
massive share of US streaming video on Netflix (79%) and YouTube (81%).
Tweenage girls use social media sites and platforms — particularly visually
oriented ones — for sharing more than their male counterparts do. For their part,
boys are more likely than girls to own gaming consoles and play video games.

TWEENAGE GIRLS ARE USING SOCIAL MEDIA SITES
& PLATFORMS, PARTICULARLY VISUALLY-ORIENTED
ONES - FOR SHARING MORE THAN THEIR MALE
COUNTERPARTS DO. TWEENAGE BOYS ARE MORE
LIKELY THAN GIRLS TO OWN GAMING CONSOLES.

VIDEO GAMES
Some 81% of tweens 13 to 17 have or have access to a game console such as a
Playstation, Xbox, or Wii. 91% of tween boys own game consoles, while 70% of
girls say they have or have access to a console.

VIDEO CALLING
Some 47% of Gen Z talk with others over video
connections such as Skype, Oovoo, Facetime, and
Omegle. Older girls are the most enthusiastic chatters
with 54% of them video calling or chatting with others
compared with 44% of all other tweens and teens. And
53% of Hispanic youth video chat and call, a bit more than
the 43% of Caucasian youth who report talking by video.

Despite all the new media Gen Z have at their disposal - from
Instagram to YouTube to Xbox, tweens still rank watching TV
and listening to music as the activities they enjoy “a lot” and
do every day, ahead of playing video games/mobile games,
watching online videos, and using social media. In fact, only
10% of Gen Z ranked social media as their favorite activity.

GEN Z TRADITIONAL TV
Gen Z are spending more time on
Netflix and YouTube as opposed to
traditional TV; the amount of time
they spend on these websites
combined equates to 59% versus
traditional TV at 29%.
On any given day, American teens
(13- to 18-year-olds) average about
nine hours (8:56) of entertainment
media use, excluding time spent at
school or for homework. Tweens
(8- to 12-year-olds) use an average
of about six hours’ (5:55) worth of
entertainment media daily.

YOUR “VOICE” SHOULD BE ASPIRATIONAL ENOUGH TO LOOK UP
TO BUT “LIKE ME” ENOUGH TO RELATE TO AND CONNECT WITH.
WHEN INTERACTING WITH GEN Z,

HOW TO SPEAK TO GEN Z
DO NOT BEBE
Smart, witty, humorous, and
slightly irreverent.
Forever cool because we
stay true to our identity: fun
and full of the adventurous,
otherworldly, dream
chaser-ness.
Proud of who we are,
honoring our roots and
infusing content with our
own personality.
Condescending. Never stray
from our core values and
integrity.
A servant to the tides of
trends, marketing or anyone
trying too hard to be hip.
Overt or in your face
Not evangelistic or heavy
handed, preferring instead
to experience.

GEN Z MESSAGING
CHARACTERISTICS
An authentic voice comes from a single persona.
LANGUAGE
CREATIVE
THE POPULAR KID THAT’S EVERYONE’S FRIEND
SHOW NOT TELL
GIVES CREDIT TO THE FANS INSTEAD OF TAKING CREDIT
SARCASTIC, BUT NOT DRY HUMOR;
CLEAR ENOUGH FOR TWEENS TO “GET IT”
CULTURALLY DIVERSE
CAPTIONS/DESCRIPTIONS SHOULD BE LANGUAGE
THAT WILL LAST FOR THE NEXT COUPLE YEARS
WITHOUT SOUNDING LAME OR OUTDATED
SHORT, COUPLE WORD DESCRIPTIONS
ALWAYS UP FOR A CHALLENGE
THE LIFE OF THE PARTY
ASPIRATIONAL CHEEKY FLEETING
PERSONALITY
OPTIMISTIC INQUISITIVE
PLAYFUL
OUTGOING
OPEN-MINDED
CLEVERUSEOF
DOUBLEENTENDRES
ALWAYS NICE AND
SENSITIVE TO OTHERS
USE HASHTAGS FOR ANYTHING
TRENDY/TRANSIENT/FLEETING
A BELIEVER

FIVE ESSENTIAL TIPS FOR
CONNECTING WITH GEN Z
Thumbs First
Gen Z is a thumbs first generation.
Born with mobile devices, apps and
the mobile web in their paws, they’re
always connected and their world
moves fast, changing with every
swipe on their phone.
Keep It Short
When communicating with Gen Z on social
media or online, use text that is short, sweet
and to the point. This generation is used to
communicating in 140 characters or less.
Their attention span is limited, so you better
hurry up and share your message.
An Emoji Is Worth A
1000 Words
Gen Z is a highly visual generation.
Use emoji, Vines, YouTube video
or GIFs to communicate with them
and show that you’re willing to
speak their language.

FIVE ESSENTIAL TIPS FOR
CONNECTING WITH GEN Z
Come Together
Tweens have had the total sum of world
knowledge a Google search away. This
has empowered them with opinions and an
expectation that you’ll include them in the
conversation. Ignore them at your own risk.
Change The World
Roughly one in four Gen Zs are involved in
volunteering. They have a global perspective
and want to be part of the solution. They’ll
expect you to give them a cause and show
them how to get involved.

‘‘GEN Z IS IN CONSTANT CONTACT, ALMOST 24/7.
ALTHOUGH EASILY CONSIDERED A TREND, THIS
BEHAVIOR HAS ALMOST TRANSCENDED THE
IDEA OF A TREND. IT IS A NORM.

SOURCES
Youthvine Gen Z Research and
Co-Creation Community
Pew Internet 2015 Tween Study
PiperJaffray Taking Stock with
Tweens 2015
CNN
Business Insider
Sparks & Honey
MTV

GREGG WITT
Chief Engagement Officer, Immersive Youth Marketing
Tel: 619-342-6482 I gregg@immersiveyouth.com I Twitter: @immersiveyouth
immersiveyouthmarketing.com