The Social Media Generation Gap

In an era where TikTok trends and Facebook groups coexist, a new study from Statista Consumer Insights reveals how differently generations engage with social media. From Gen Z's love for short-form video to baby boomers' loyalty to text-based platforms, the digital landscape is not just evolving, but also fragmenting.

TikTok, Instagram and YouTube are Gen Z's favorite social networks, with between 79 and 91 percent of users recorded in the three months preceding the survey (data collected during the second semester of 2025). Meta's parent platform, Facebook, ranks in fourth place, with 77 percent of total users among Gen Z over the period, just ahead of Snapchat (72 percent), although the frequency of use is not specified. Generally speaking, Gen Z, in addition to being more active users, tend to connect to a wider range of platforms than their older counterparts.

On the contrary, for all those born before 1995 (Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers), Facebook remains the social media app with the highest user share (or almost), at between 88 and 89 percent over the past quarter. It is only challenged by YouTube (90 percent) among Millennials. While YouTube and Instagram are also progressively gaining ground among Generation X and baby boomers (with roughly 40 to 80 percent of total users by late 2025), the generation gap is particularly broad for Snapchat and TikTok. These two photo and video sharing apps account for between 62 and 79 percent of users among Gen Z and Millennials, compared to only between 11 and 46 percent among those aged over 45.