The Youth Lab

Gen Z is the first completely digitally native generation - the primary force shaping the future of social media. Their influence dictates platform trends, content norms, and the very definition of online engagement. They are a generation that increasingly demands authenticity and their tolerance for ultra-polished, fabricated and highly-curated content is decreasing rapidly. Younger generations want to engage, but the kind of content they would consider interacting with is in short supply, and therefore luring them out of their comfortable, keyboard-cave has become an increasingly formidable challenge.

In this week’s edition of 52INSIGHTS, we explore how the way today’s youth engages online has reshaped the entire social media landscape. We share ways to leverage these shifts to create content that truly captures their attention.

PLAYING HARD-TO-GET

Overall, general engagement levels have been plummeting over the last few years. According to the 2025 Social Media Industry Benchmark Report by Rival IQ, Facebook engagement has dropped 36% in the last year, TikTok followed closely with a 34% drop and Instagram had a 16% drop. The feeds of Millenials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha have become oversaturated with meaningless content, and brands focusing on achieving a higher posting frequency rather than putting out quality content that will actually resonate with their audience.

The age of the ‘Lurker’ is upon us. Young people today aren't engaging on socials in a genuine, meaningful way as much as they used to. Instead, they are passively scrolling with no real intention of interacting:

“Honestly, I’m such a passive scroller, I hardly ever engage in comments, I rarely like anything - everything is said when I share posts with friends… I’d have to see people I know or something truly special to get me to actually engage with it” - Ciaran, 25, The Youth Lab

Nowadays users prefer to ‘silently browse’ over actively interacting with content. 48% of all adult U.S. TikTok users have never even posted a single TikTok and Instagram story completion rates heavily outweigh general comment rates at the moment. In a study by the Nielson Norman Group, it was found that in most online communities, 90% of users are lurkers who never contribute, 9% of users contribute a little, and 1% of users account for almost all the action.

In this age of the ‘Lurker’, where engagement has undoubtedly fallen across all platforms, you may be wondering how it could possibly be the most important metric to measure? Our answer is, because it’s playing hard to get. The goal of a modern marketer is to stop these lurkers in their tracks with content that is so powerful, meaningful, emotive, interesting or entertaining that they feel they simply have to share it. Due to this scarcity of engagement, the best way to measure a post's success is by its ability to boost interactions. If the youth of today is liking, commenting, or sharing your content with friends, that makes it content worth engaging with amidst a sea of overlooked posts.

IT’S A PRIVATE MATTER

Young people are craving a more private social media experiences, with most of their engagement taking place in the DMs. The classic social media ‘vanity’ metrics (likes and comments) still matter and always will, however Gen Z have rising concerns over privacy and have more specific, niche interests. As a result, the current social media landscape has shifted to become more curated, with 78% of users preferring private communities over public feeds. Over the last year, we have seen a 247% rise in Discord communities and Facebook Groups now see 1.8 billion monthly active users. This proves that young people are still consuming and interacting on socials, but this activity has shifted to more niche, interest-based spaces.

Social media platforms are adapting to this shift, and focusing their algorithms on more community-driven metrics. Instagram chief Adam Mosseri recently explained:

“At Instagram, we’re trying to be a place where people can be creative, but in a way that brings people together. We want not only to be a place where you passively consume content, but where you discover things you want to tell your friends about.” - Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram

He announced at the end of 2024 that shares have become the most important metric that the algorithm considers when ranking posts. His advice? ‘Consider if the viewer would want to send it to their friends and family’. Instagram has taken many strides like this to encourage this shift to a more private, curated social media experience. The sharing of Instagram reels has become the most common form of interaction on the app, and off the back of this insight, they recently announced the testing of a feature called ‘Blend’, which will enable you to view a co-operative feed of AI-recommended Reels for you and a friend.

Gen Z specifically have influenced this rise in the importance of shares and ‘sendable content’:

“My main use of socials would be DMs and sending my friends funny things. I never comment on anything, I’ll only like something if it makes me chuckle but I’ll definitely share content if it's relevant to one of my friends. I’ll only really save something if I know I'll want to come back to it later.” - Lewis, 24, EY Graduate Programme

Instead of chasing engagement that no longer drives this real connection, brands must rethink how they cultivate loyalty, advocacy, and long-term growth. The focus is realigning from fleeting trends to designing brand moments that create lasting emotional connections and spark real endorsement.

SEARCHING FOR ‘THE ONE’

Another crucial factor in understanding how the youth of today engage with social media is recognising that these platforms are no longer just social networks, they have evolved into powerful search engines. These aforementioned ‘lurkers’ aren’t just mindlessly scrolling for the sake of it anymore; they are actively searching. Using socials as a method of searching is not just a trend; it’s a total behaviour shift. 40% of Gen Z go to TikTok or Instagram for their search queries rather than using a dedicated search engine like Google, and Pinterest is now processing over 5 billion searches a month.

Social media platforms are fuelling this appetite for searches, because where there’s search, there’s revenue/advertising. TikTok introduced a ‘clickable search query’ feature where popular searches pop up under videos or in the comment section (depending on the content). Instagram also announced that they’ll be fixing and adding to the ‘searchability’ on their app by adding a similar ‘blue link’ feature. This shift has completely changed the way users are finding content and information, so how do brands ensure their content is optimised for this new form of user interaction?

BRAND TAKEOUTS

Young people want you to keep it real. Upcoming generations are all about a more meaningful, valuable experience on social media, and that’s shifting how they behave and interact online. To keep up, brands need to create content that grabs attention and stops the lurkers in their tracks - content that’s relatable, useful, entertaining and/or shareable. Forget just chasing likes or follower counts. It's time to focus on building personal, shareable moments that spark genuine connections and advocacy.

How do we make this happen? Brands and marketers should be diving into research to figure out what search terms young people are using. Getting familiar with the platforms and their lingo is key - use the most effective social listening tools to stay on top. Then, bring those search terms into your content, especially captions, to answer questions and make content more discoverable. It’s all about syncing up with the new way these emerging generations are using social media today.

THINKHOUSE NEWS

Save the Date: Youth Culture Uncovered 2025, June 11th, 9am-11am. For Thinkhouse clients only.

This year we expect another packed-out event as The Youth Lab shares insights into youth culture, AI and the Creator Economy.

Hold your place!