Targeting Generation Z: Up and Coming Social Media Platforms
As the owners of mobile devices get younger and younger, the up & coming social media apps are adapting their platforms to successfully capture the attention of generation Z.
While applications like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook are extremely prevalent, fresh and innovative social networking platforms continue to rise. These of which cater to an age group that has become uninterested with these “old and overused” social networks.
Snapchat
Snapchat is a social networking app used to share snaps, videos, text, and illustrations. The application successfully captured the teenage audience and has become immensely popular in a very short span of time. Snapchat initially centred the app around direct messaging and individual snap sharing, but later developed to feature “stories” and a “discover” tab.
So far, Snapchat sounds like your standard messaging and photo sharing app, what makes Snapchat so much better than any other social networking application? Well, there is one significant feature that makes Snapchat stand out compared to other apps. After a pre-set amount of time, the messages and images disappear from the recipient’s phone. This instant form of exchange means users can interact freely without worrying about repercussions and make communication between others “a lot more human and natural”. As of May 2017, Snapchat had 166 million daily active users and successfully represents a new era of social networking.
Musical.ly
Musical.ly is a D.I.Y video app that combines features of both social networking and music together in an inimitable and interactive way. The platform’s target audience is 7-16-year old’s but has amassed an audience as young as first-graders. ‘Musers’ can produce and share music videos of up to 15 seconds as well as like and comment on other videos. Musical.ly features content that typically consists of lip-syncing, dancing and comedy sketches.
Since its release in 2014, Musical.ly has accumulated over 90 million users who are actively creating and uploading nearly 12 million videos per day. The social networking-photo sharing app has rapidly climbed the top charts of apps and has become one of most prominent social networking platforms among generation Z.
Musical.ly is one of the few applications that promote content creation for young people. By supplying them with the essential resources, they are helping the younger generation produce content simply and efficiently. ‘Musers’ are given the chance to artistically express themselves by making videos that incorporate their thoughts and feelings.
Vine 2
Launched on the 24th January 2013, Vine was a video-sharing app that allowed users to create and share a short six-second video. After the six seconds, the video was played over and over on a continuous loop. The Vine app was also used to discover trending or popular videos shared by other viners and to browse through videos subjected to a theme (i.e. comedy). Vine quickly gained popularity through other social media platforms as users had the ability to share their videos on Facebook and Twitter. By December 2015, Vine had roughly 200 million active users.
But, on October 27th, 2016, users were prohibited from creating new content; leaving Vine’s community of creators in search of a substitute video sharing platform. Vine was once one of the most diverse networking platform and a key promoter of creativity in a comedic manner. Vine significantly impacted internet culture and from 2012 to 2015, “there was simply nowhere online like Vine.”
Luckily for everyone who enjoyed Vine, co-founder Dom Hofmann is creating a Vine 2 that is aiming to be released in the summer of 2018. Vine was immensely popular and since it was shut down, millions of users have pleaded to have the application re-launched. It is safe to say, Vine 2 will be one of the biggest impacts on 2018 internet culture.
As a new generation turns to social media, old networking platforms like Facebook doesn’t have the same appeal as newer, more modern applications like Snapchat. These up and coming social media platforms understand the wants and needs of generation Z and have incorporated them to successfully promote content creation and the development of contemporary internet culture.
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Ana Smith
Junior Marketing Assistant