Gen Z College Students Use Instagram for Gift Inspiration

When it comes to holiday gifts, Gen Z college students are most likely to turn to Instagram for inspiration. In an October poll of more than 1,000 Gen Z college students, the National Retail Federation discovered 46 percent will use social media to spark creativity during the holiday season.

82 percent of college students will use Instagram. Second most popular is YouTube at 48 percent, followed by Pinterest at 44 percent. Snapchat is in the middle of the list with 35 percent. Toward the bottom are Facebook and Twitter, which fell at 34 percent and 33 percent, respectively.

At 10 percent, TikTok is the least popular form of social media to use for inspiration. The video-sharing app is widely popular among Gen Z. It has been downloaded more than 1 billion times worldwide and was one of the most popular apps of 2018. TikTok’s popularity continues to grow, especially among the younger generations. Retailers and brands aren’t popular on the platform yet, though companies like Guess and Chipotle have tried to create one of their own viral marketing campaigns to potentially tap into Gen Z’s propensity to participate in viral challenges.