The Social Media Generational Gap in 2025
Insight Curator:
DeepDive Team
Read time:
3
min
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September 1, 2025
Fabiana Binte Mesbah
Imagine two cousins: one, born in 1990, the millennial, scrolling Instagram Reels mid-morning; the other, a Gen Z born in 2003, lost in TikTok for hours. This everyday scene illustrates the widening generation gap on social platforms – a divide shaped not just by age, but by how we consume, create, and connect in 2025.
Let’s dive into the data, trends, and behaviors that define the generational gap in social media today, and how AI-powered social listening tools can help decode the noise.
Though both Gen Z and millennials populate the same apps, their behaviors diverge. According to GWI data, Gen Z gravitate toward YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat, favoring fast video, memes, and livestreams, while millennials frequent Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and X. Yet, millennials lead the early adoption of Threads, Meta’s conversation-driven newcomer.
It might be useful to check out the top social media platforms in 2025 to to align your brand with the platforms dominating audience attention and time spent.
Gen Z are head-first into social engagement. In fact, according to a study by SQ magazine, 94% use at least one platform daily in 2025, with 83% on TikTok and 78% on YouTube every day. The usage duration is also staggering: 35% spend more than four hours per day on social media, while only 3% use it less than an hour. Meanwhile, Instagram still pulls heavily from both generations: 60% of users are under 35, with 31.7% aged 18–24.
While social media is a shopping engine for all ages, Gen Z and millennials respond differently. Gen Z are more impulsive and influencer-driven; 47% of Gen Z engage with AR/VR and livestreams, and TikTok influencers drive 43% of their product discovery. Overall, Gen Z and millennials are both immersed in branded content and social commerce but Gen Z’s trust leans heavily on authenticity and interactivity.
Heavier usage comes with heavier emotional tolls. Gen Z are twice as likely as older generations to report social media harming their mental health. In Australia, 79% of Gen Z admitted to doom-scrolling (far higher than Millennials, Gen X, or Boomers). Platforms like Instagram and TikTok exacerbate self-image issues, prompting 55% of Gen Z to take at least one “social media detox” in the past year.
Brands must navigate this social media generational gap by understanding distinct content preferences: bite-size, interactive videos for Gen Z; community threads and thoughtful engagement for millennials.
Gen Z seeks connection, authenticity, and escape. Meanwhile, millennials, who are more attuned to digital wellbeing, value interface design, brand values, and meaningful interaction.
For Gen Z, micro-influencers and real voices hold sway; for millennials, platforms like Threads and Instagram may resonate through context and community rather than fast-paced trends.
Here’s how social listening becomes invaluable to brands. By tracking platform-specific conversations, including the tone, sentiment, trending topics, tools such as DeepDive deliver nuanced insights into both ends of the spectrum. Whether it’s Gen Z’s meme-laden discourse or millennials’ discussion elsewhere, such tools uncover generational behaviors that fuel engagement. This strategic edge helps brands close the generation gap in digital dialogue, and capture attention where it matters.
The social media generational gap in 2025 isn’t just about who's on which platform; it’s about how and why they engage. Gen Z’s thirst for connection and immediacy contrasts with millennials’ preference for community and thoughtful experience. As this generational dance continues, tools like DeepDive offer the precision, empathy, and speed to connect your brand authentically to your audience across timelines, platforms, and scrolls.
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