What Gen Z thinks of social, video, AI, and sports: report

New year, same trendsetters.

As Gen Z’s purchasing power continues to climb, the demographic’s influence on culture and consumer behavior is only going up, according to a new report from Morning Consult.

The report, based on several surveys conducted in October and November, including two of about 1,000 Gen Zers each, offers marketers a look at that generation’s latest thoughts on several major cultural touchpoints in entertainment and tech headed into the new year.

Get social: Gen Z is, of course, intimately familiar with social media, dedicating hours each day to online pursuits. For 35% of them, that time amounts to more than four hours per day, to be exact. That figure is down slightly from 38% in 2022, but still represents a plurality of respondents, per the report.

YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat are the most-used platforms among Gen Z, according to Morning Consult. Gen Z’s usage of those platforms and more remained fairly steady from 2022 to 2023, per the report. There was one exception: X, which saw a drop-off of 8 percentage points in terms of the share of Gen Zers who said they used the platform in 2023 versus 2022.

Most Gen Zers turn to social media for entertainment or scrolling, Morning Consult found, while fewer use it to post themselves. “With posting behavior taking a back seat, a brand’s social media presence is more important than ever,” according to the report. Review videos can be a particularly powerful tool for brands: 53% of Gen Zers said that type of content has led to a purchase.

For your entertainment: Gen Zers are seemingly saving time for video streaming platforms, too. The report found that Netflix is the most used streaming service, followed by Disney+, Prime Video, and Hulu. Companies that license programming to multiple platforms as opposed to exclusive deals could reach a larger swath of Gen Zers as a result, according to Morning Consult.

While 43% of Gen Zers said they hadn’t gone to a movie theater in the month before they were surveyed, 69% said they’ve watched an entire movie or show on social.

AI is in: More than half (57%) of Gen Zers said they used generative AI in the month prior to the survey, compared to 42% who said they’d never used them. ChatGPT is the AI tool of choice for Gen Z, per the report.

By and large, Gen Z’s experiences with AI seem to be positive. About three-in-four (77%) said they’ve found AI easy to use, and similar shares agreed that it’s fun (76%) and helpful (74%).

Sports skepticism: On the other hand, Gen Z has a “tenuous relationship with sports,” as the report’s authors put it. They’re watching live sports less often than their older counterparts, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re not sports fans. Morning Consult found that larger shares of Gen Zers attended live games and participated in fantasy sports in 2023 than the general population.

Despite the surge of interest in women’s sports in the past year or so, men’s leagues are still the most popular among Gen Z. The NFL, NBA, and college football reign supreme, followed by MLB and esports. College basketball, Nascar, UFC, the NHL, and Formula 1 round out the top 10 before the WNBA and NWSL make the list.

Gen Z’s top 10 favorite athletes are all also men, according to an open-ended question asking respondents to name their favorite sports figures, including No. 1 LeBron James, No. 2 Lionel Messi, and No. 3 Tom Brady. Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, both of the Kansas City Chiefs, complete the top five.