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Visualizing Gen Z’s Favorite Digital Activities
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Growing up with the internet at their fingertips, social media and digital technologies have been an integral part of Gen Z’s social interactions, education, entertainment and information consumption since they were kids.
According to Gen Z research and strategy firm DCDX, Gen Z spent an average of seven hours a day on their phones in 2023.
This chart shows how Gen Z chooses to spend their time online, visualizing the share of U.S. Gen Z internet users (born between 1997 and 2012) who participated in various digital activities in 2024.
The data comes from a survey by EMARKETER and is updated as of 2024.
How Gen Z Likes To Spend Their Time Online
Watching video content, both short and long-form, continues to be the younger generation’s preferred way to spend time online, with the rise of TikTok and continued popularity of YouTube.
In 2024, 96% of Gen Z internet users watched digital video content, either streaming or downloaded.
Digital activity | % of U.S. Gen Z population who engage in this digital activity at least once a month |
Digital video viewers | 96% |
Social network users | 88% |
Digital buyers | 82% |
Podcast listeners | 57% |
Virtual reality users | 37% |
TikTok has emerged as a particularly popular platform among younger generations. According to the Pew Research Center and Axios, about one-third of U.S. adults under the age of 30 regularly turned to TikTok for news in January 2023, a 255% increase from 2020.
Social media use (which often serves up video content or connects users to online stores) came in at a close second, with 88% of Gen Z using some form of social media platform like Instagram or Snapchat.
According to Statista, Gen Z made up 25% of social media users in the U.S. as of June 2024.
From Instagram’s addition and focus on “Reels” (short-form videos similar to TikTok), Youtube’s similar embracing of video “Shorts”, and X’s (formerly Twitter) integration of longer form video content, many of these platforms have realized the value of video and are finding new ways to serve video content to users.
Learn More on the Voronoi App
To learn more about Gen Z’s digital preferences, check out this graphic that visualizes Gen Z’s favorite social media platforms.Use This Visualization