An Interview with Gen Z

Jul 20, 2020

Social media is always changing. A platform that may have been the “king of the industry” can vanish overnight (just look at MySpace, Vine, Google+) while others that people may have overlooked can become shining stars (TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat). Each generation has a channel of choice, but even this preference changes often. This might be the case for Generation Z more than any of its predecessors. Yet sometimes to learn about what the most effective tactics of today are, you need to talk to the people using them!

Holly, our Vice President of Operations & Resourcing, spoke with a top expert on all things Gen Z… her son Jacob! They spoke about what social media platforms resonate with this new generation, what he thinks works and what doesn’t.

Holly: What are the social platforms you use regularly?
Jacob: SnapChat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram

Holly: What ads are interesting enough for you to click on?
Jacob: I don’t like ads and I NEVER click on them. They’re so annoying.

Holly: What influences you?
Jacob: Mainly I just look at trends and styles that I see other people my age doing or wearing and if I like it then I might ask my parents for it or buy it myself if I have enough money.

Holly: How would someone sell to you?
Jacob: I don’t really want anyone to sell to me. If I go to a store, I already know what I want because I looked it up online, so I don’t need anyone to sell me on it. And I hate pixel ads – they’re annoying (by pixel ads he was referring to retargeting ads that follow him around online).

Holly: Do you look at customer reviews?
Jacob: No

Holly: How would you sell a product?
Jacob: If I’m selling a product to other people my age I would talk about it on Snapchat or TikTok. Like set up an account and show my product in my posts or videos and maybe have ads on there too.

If I am selling a product to people my parent’s age (40s), I would promote it on Instagram and if I want to reach people my grandparents age (70s) I would promote it on Facebook because that’s where the old people are.

Holly: How many social media accounts do you have and what do you use each for?
Jacob: 4 accounts:
Snapchat – this is where I talk to my friends
TikTok – a mix of anything from videos of shoes, gaming, dancing, cars, music. And I also watch because there is easy access to videos.
YouTube – I watch how to do things. Learn new stuff. Or just watch my favorite creators for games and vlogs.
Instagram – memes and news. I don’t post anything, and I don’t really use it that much anymore.

AN EVER-CHANGING WORLD

It’s incredible to see just how quickly things change in the world of social media. Just as an example, Instagram was once the “new kid on the block.” It has now leaped to one of the most used social media platforms across the country. TikTok is now on the way to be a force to be reckoned with. Meanwhile, Facebook has become more of a cornerstone and institution on the world wide web. Regardless, the social media experts at Able&Co. are ready to do everything necessary to deliver results to our clients.