It’s no secret how much Gen Z loves TikTok, but until now, it has always fallen behind a few longstanding social media platforms in usage. For years, it’s competed with YouTube for their video-consuming attention but couldn’t surpass it, despite TikTok’s status as their favorite platform. But Gen Z is using the short-form video app every day—and they look at it as an all-encompassing source where they can find anything on wellness, fashion, food, politics, relatable “story times,” and everything else under the sun, all from peers their age. And so, the tides appear to have finally turned.
YPulse’s most recent Social Media Monitor report shows Gen Z’s TikTok usage pulled ahead of YouTube this year, despite previously looking like it had hit a plateau. Between November 2022 and now, Gen Z are reporting some significant differences in which social media platforms they’re using, including their coveted number one choice. However, this success doesn’t mean other platforms are through—and we’ll explain why. First, our data shows exactly how many Gen Z are using these top platforms:
TikTok is Gen Z’s number one social media platform
While Gen Z has named TikTok as their favorite social media platform, and even their favorite app, our data shows this is the first time it has risen to the status of their most-used platform. Now, a record 76% of Gen Z say they use TikTok, up from 69% in November. This surpasses the 71% who say they use YouTube (down from 73% in November), which is what really makes this an impressive feat. For many Gen Z, YouTube has been a lifelong staple platform. It was the leader of video content, competing against streaming services for their viewing attention. But TikTok revolutionized this gen’s content preferences, pushing the whole of social video content toward the short-form model.
Since TikTok first took off with Gen Z in 2020, it has become their go-to source for tons of content. We even explored the breadth of its impact in our trend report The TikTok Effect, which showed how not only would they choose the app over other platforms to scroll on, but that it’s also incredibly influential when it comes to advertising. It’s encouraged a trend in which more and more young people prefer to see ads that entertain them and fit into the content already on their feeds, or really, For You Pages. Now, with Gen Z’s TikTok usage on the up again, it’s just a reminder that any brand not paying attention to the app’s influence could fall with Gen Z consumers.
The majority of users are on TikTok everyday
In addition to being Gen Z’s most-used platform, it’s also the platform they’re most likely to say they use every day—by a large margin. Amongst social media users (which is 98% of Gen Z and Millennials), 63% of Gen Z say they use TikTok every day, with YouTube coming in second at 47%. With this in mind, it’s really no surprise Gen Z is most likely to name TikTok as the most addictive platform. And when they say addictive, they really mean it: YPulse data shows 45% of Gen Z TikTok users spend three or more hours a day on TikTok, with 18% saying they spend five or more on the app daily.
This doesn’t mean YouTube is out of the picture
YouTube has long stood as Gen Z’s most used social media platform. But, despite TikTok taking the lead, that doesn’t mean it’s a permanent change. In fact, our data shows constant fluctuations in Gen Z’s platform usage; even recently, fewer Gen Z reported using TikTok to watch video content on a weekly basis than last year, showing how their attention is being spread between multiple platforms.
Additionally, we know that young people are looking for different kinds of content on each platform, reserving their unique functions and importance. While Gen Z are most likely to say they want to see memes / viral content on TikTok, the number one kind of content they say they want to see on YouTube is from online influencers. Both kinds of content are important for brands to be focusing on: viral-related videos grab their attention, but influencers are impactful on what they choose to buy (read: collab opportunities).
While short form videos have undeniably become a leader of popular content, our Media Consumption report data shows 52% of Gen Z still prefer a long video to a short one—proving YouTube’s content is not yet out of style. In fact, as much as other platforms (including YouTube) are trying to center short-form content, TikTok has been adding longer video options to compete in the other direction. And according to YPulse’s Brand Tracker data, YouTube is still the leading overall brand for Gen Z—whereas TikTok ranks fourth, meaning Gen Z’s value for this platform is going nowhere anytime soon.
