Social media preference for generations Z

Author: Wang Peinan (Lecturer of the School of Humanities of Tsinghua University, Researcher of Israel Eggstein External Communication Research Center)

Source: "Young Reporter", No. 17, 2022

The rise of generations and changes in social media ecology

As the first generation of "digital aborigines" in human society, the Z Generation Z is gradually entering the stage of world politics, economic and cultural exchanges. At present, groups born from 1995 to 2009 are generally regarded as "Gen Z". Due to the growth of Gen Z and the development of global Internet and social media, they are also called "Internet generations" by some researchers. [1] As of the end of 2021, the scale of the Genz group of the world reached 1.9 billion people, accounting for 26%of the global population. [2]

With the gradual growth of generations, its social media's usage habits and preferences have begun to have a direct impact on the ecology of global media and the Internet. On the one hand, the use of social media in generations has long been more than other generations, and social media has a profound impact on their information acquisition and social exchanges. Statistics show that the average daily Internet access time of the Gen Z group exceeds 8 hours, of which the time spent on social media is 3 to 4 hours. The time of the use of social media in generation Z is mainly concentrated at noon and evening, and shows the increasing trend of high -frequency usage periods. The increase in use time has made generation Z's strong consumption power in the digital field, which affects the ideas and directions of Internet product development.

On the other hand, the social media of generations have shown a distinctive platform migration trend. Mobile and visualization are the main features of the consumption of generations Z. [3] Although platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms have long occupied the dominant position of global social media, since 2019, Snapchat and Tiktok have surpassed Facebook and Twitter in the Gen Z group. Use the transformation of preferences and habits. In the United States, Instagram, Tiktok and Snapchat have exceeded 34 million in 2021, while Facebook and Twitter's generations have only 28.7 million and 15.8 million in the same period. [4] At the same time, an emerging social platform, such as Twitch, Reddit, Lomotif, etc., has been widely sought after by Gen Z of Western countries, which further exacerbated the transformation of global social media products and content ecology.

Facebook and Twitter, as the early web2.0 era products, use text and picture content as the main body, including a large amount of political and social issues, and establish a relationship community based on users who take the initiative to pay attention to. However, Instagram, Snapchat, and Tiktok presents completely different platform features. With audio and video visual content as the main body, entertaining and personalized content supports platforms, preference algorithms and precision push are used as methods to connect users. Based on the differences between the two in the platform and the trend of user migration in generations, this article analyzes the social media preferences of the Western Z -generation group from the three dimensions of audiovisual, emotion and algorithms.

Social media preference for generations Z

(1) Audiovisual steering: audio and video content leading content format

The Internet and social media broke the limit of time and space, bringing real -time information flow and interpersonal communication across the geopolitical boundaries. From BBS to Facebook, most of the early social media are based on text and a small amount of picture information as the content basis of the platform, which also has a direct relationship with the bandwidth and information transmission load of early network communication technology. With the development of communication technology and the popularization of mobile terminals, technologies such as visualization, digital simulation, and codec further enrich the network communication methods, and promotes social media to upgrade the content of the platform content of audiovisual and multi -mode content. Compared with traditional text dissemination, audio and video content uses more similar sounds and screens as information carriers. While restoring information spread in real world to a greater extent, it provides a more vivid and immersive network experience for the audience.

It can be seen from the time allocation data of the social media of Gen Z, which can be seen that the Gen Z generation of digital aborigines has a natural preference for audiovisual content. Nearly 50%of generations of users use audio and video content platforms such as TIKTOK and YouTube for more than 1 hour every day, more than 10%of them will stay on these two platforms for more than 5 hours. In sharp comparison, the time of the Z to stay on Facebook and Twitter every day or less than 15 minutes. [5] In order to change this situation, Facebook and Twitter are also trying to launch more products that use audio and videos as the content form. Facebook has launched short video platform Lasso and Reels, while Twitter launched the "push feedback" function (QUOTE " Tweet with Reaction), imitate the dynamic content embedded repository of Tiktok and Instagram.

The comprehensive audiovisual steering of the social media platform has a direct relationship with the habits of social media in generations. The survey shows that recreational entertainment and self -display are the main reasons for the use of social media in generations. The audiovisual content provides more possibilities for recreational entertainment and self -display compared to text content. At the level of pastime and entertainment, the audio and video content has more intuitive three -dimensional information than text, which can bring stronger sensory stimulus and immersion experience. In addition, in the face of the realistic contradiction between the massive information of social media and the limited attention of users, audio and video content can effectively attract the attention of generations of generations, helping audio and video social media to catch up with the traditional text content platform at the traffic level. At the level of self -display, the form of audio and video reduces the threshold for production and dissemination of information on the one hand, and on the one hand, it also enriches the way of web users to shape personal image, and welcomes mergers and stimulates the desire to express and share. VLOG gradually replaced the traditional Blog as a welcoming self -expression of the Western Z generation. The presence of audio and video content multi -modals can better cross language obstacles compared to text, which further stimulates the enthusiasm of generations of youths to participate in cross -cultural communication. Both YouTube and TIKTOK have formed their own unique "net red culture". Through UGC's self -display and content production, a number of influential network celebrities are gradually cultivated, providing the platform with sustainable and growth business model. [6]

(2) Emotional steering: "post -truth" public opinion environment -driven discourse form

In the context of audiovisual steering, the strong stimulus of audio and video content on sensory offensions has triggered the emotional steering of generations of social media in generations. Compared to the news production led by traditional media, self -media and opinion leaders on social media are more inclined to use emotional and misleading expressions to attract the attention of the audience. Public opinion is more likely to be dominated by irrational content. Long -term immersed in such an environment has caused a cognitive tendency to be relatively "emotional and light" in the Z generation.

Gen Z regards social media as a platform with recreation and entertainment as the main function, which makes generations use social media more with entertainment mentality, which is more inclined to obtain content that can mobilize emotional identity. Although such user portraits have also brought positive news and constructive news on social media, which contains positive and positive emotional expressions. But at the same time, the "emphasis on the facts of emotions" uses the mentality of the public opinion environment represented by the future truth, and on the other hand, it is not conducive to the popularity of rational public discussions on social media.

The survey shows that a new TIKTOK account can receive at least one false information or misleading information in a few minutes of registration. [7] During the Russian -Ukraine conflict, a large amount of misleading information spread on platforms such as TIKTOK and Snapchat. Most of the misleading information are matched with other unrelated videos with the text related to Russia and Ukraine, and presented on social media platforms and spread on social media platforms through the way of "moving flowers and woods". [8] Because the relevant content is presented in the form of video, it is very easy to make the generation Z -generation users who lack media literacy blindly believe, and then cause a larger confusion in social media. Long -term immersed in the public opinion environment led by misleading information that is difficult to distinguish between true and false information, it will also have a negative impact on the accurate recognition of the social environment of Gen Z.

This highly emotional social media expression method is subtly affecting the way of self -expression of generations. When the United States Z, when the false news of the false news against social media, the United States did not choose to use the public rational discourse to express it. "This absurd conspiracy theory resists false information on social media in a satirical and teasing way. [9] Even if it is involved in serious political issues, generations Z are more inclined to discuss the use of fans such as emoticons, so as to eliminate serious issues into funny expressions of emoticons. Due to the long -term influence of the public opinion environment of the post -truth, the expression of social media in the Western Z generation also contains the characteristics of emotions beyond rationality and ridiculous and ridiculous, and driven the unique media culture of generations.

(3) Algorithm steering: preferences pushing the leading technical form

A survey of Google in July 2022 shows that more than 40%of the first choice entrance to get information on the Internet is no longer search engines such as Google. And news dynamics. [10] Compared with active retrieval, preference algorithms and accurate push information "feed" (Feed) provides more convenient information acquisition methods, which is generally favored by generations. Compared with search engines, the active content of the active "user portrait" of personal "user portraits" has catered to the needs of generations in terms of content acquisition. The rich and diverse UGC content contained in emerging social media has made generation Z more as an important source of information.

Although Facebook and Twitter are constantly introducing the logic of algorithm recommendation, its kernel is still the content distribution logic of the content of the social relations network by adding friends and other methods in the SNS era and obtaining information based on this. However, social media represented by TIKTOK, Snapchat and YouTube set the method of distributing content and diffusion on the basis of preference push, with "content preferences", "collaborative filtering" and "sequential popularity" as the main principles. And help users complete the establishment of preference content and social networks. "Content preference" is based on the user's previous browsing preferences to push the same type information for them and help users build dynamic label portraits; "collaborative filtering" is based on the content preferences of cluster users or a certain items Users complete the search for interest communities; in order to avoid the problem of "cold launch" of new users, the algorithm can also push the recent hotspots for users based on "sequential popularity" to help users initially establish their own interest preference labels. Emerging social media platforms such as TIKTOK will open up the "for You" (user -specific) page, based on the above three algorithm mechanisms to match the potential information for users. The mechanisms of these three push algorithms are complementary, which has a profound impact on the use habits of social media in generations.

First of all, at the level of content acquisition, the widespread application of algorithm mechanisms in social media has reduced the energy consumption of generations in information retrieval and screening filtering, and enhanced the experience of their social media platforms; The "echo room" of information obtaining power and homogeneous information surrounded by information. When the habits of generations Z and excessively immersed in the information environment wrapped in this algorithm, it is not conducive to its diversified sound and the initiative of actively exploring the facts. Social media tendencies.

Secondly, at the level of content production, the algorithm mechanism is also affecting the logic of the self -presence and content release of generations of generations of social media. The experience of social media in generation Z has formed an organic interaction with the algorithm distribution mechanism, and then understand how the algorithm helps the video or picture content published in the process of using it for a long time is widely distributed. [11] With the confession of algorithms, generations Z, compared with other generations, can better use the mechanism of algorithms for content production, and help them release more widely through predictable algorithm logic.

Revelation and countermeasures of generations of social media preferences

The growth of generations Z is closely developing with Snapchat, YouTube, Tiktok, and Instagram. With the emergence of generations in various fields of society, the ecology of social media and the Internet will be more deeply affected by the preferences of generations of social media in generations. Faced with the direct change of social media ecology in the rise of the global Z generation, China's international communication also needs to form a targeted change, so as to better resonate with the habits of the medium use of generations.

(1) Strengthen platform construction and support the platform to go to sea

In the context of the global social media platform visual and hearing, traditional social media such as Facebook are also challenged by emerging forces such as Tiktok and Snapchat. Therefore, it can grasp the trend of the migration of the social media platform audience, attach importance to the infrastructure role of social media and digital platforms in the Internet international communication, and support the Chinese social media platform to go to sea and cultivate China's international social media platform. In particular, focusing on the trend of audiovisual steering around global social media, it has promoted various audio and video social media platforms to accelerate the overseas, so as to grasp the use preferences of generations of social media, and to absorb the platform ecosystem of the global Z to enter China.

(2) Adjust discourse form, pay attention to the emotional core

The expression of generations in social media highlights the unique discourse characteristics of the intergeneration. The interpretation of the drama represented by the emoticon package and the post -truth -driven conspiracy theory brings the "emphasis and lightness" in the use of the social media in generation Z. Trend. In the international dissemination form for generations Z, we should pay attention to "moving people with emotion" while "serving people with people", attracting the emotional expression of content, and absorbing the fabrics such as the emoticons familiar to generations. Realize effective dialogue with generations on social media platforms.

(3) Pay attention to content distribution and strengthen algorithm driver

In the process of migrating from Facebook from Facebook to TIKTOK, the content distribution mechanism recommended by the algorithm has a direct and profound impact on the acquisition of Segee Z's information. Emerging social media platforms generally distribute the algorithm accurate push mechanism as the main content distribution mechanism, and generations have therefore more familiar and adapt to passive feeding instead of active information search methods. The international communication for generations Z should follow the trend of algorithm steering, focusing on the impact of algorithm confession on content distribution, and effectively rely on algorithm mechanisms to achieve a wider spread of Chinese stories.

Reference format for this article:

Wang Peinan. Audiovisual, emotion and algorithm: Social media preferences in the Western Z generation to [J]. Young reporter, 2022 (17): 96-98.

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