Week Eight: Experiencing Social Media as a Gen Z Student?

While I worked on this Blog I learned so much about social media. I've learned to approach my social media life with more caution and thoughtfulness. I am a millennial and fall into many millennial troupes. Nostalgia is important to me and I feel caught between worlds. I remember when we got a home computer and I'd play games on it. Getting an old laptop from my dad in high school was a huge deal. I didn't get a smartphone until college. 

I joined Facebook when I was in 10th grade and had to beg my mom to let me make an account. Huddling around the family computer and watching YouTube videos was how my family bonded. Getting Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok were all big things for me. Even though I feel pretty confident with social media I will still Google questions about current trends or how to use new features. 

(Image Credit: Insight)

I found this article about advertising to millennials using social media. It was interesting what parts of being a millennial have been flagged by companies to use in ads. 

In this article, NPR looks at the phrase "OK Boomer" and how it was being used. (It is from 2019 so may be a little dated but I think it's a good read to look at how generations interact.)

(Image Credit: Source: PantherMedia/Nataliia Nesterenko)

When you work in a library you work with many different ages and generations. Part of learning how to be a good librarian is knowing how to connect with people from all backgrounds. I think this means acknowledging that different generations have different life experiences. 

To get a better understanding of some of these differences I did an interview with a Gen Z student. Gen Z are between the ages of 14-28. (For more details about what Gen Z means and interesting statistics I recommend this link)

The student I interviewed was born in 2005 is 18 and uses she/her pronouns. Currently a senior in high school I asked about her experiences with social media.

The first thing I asked was about life with social media. I was curious what social media she used, how, and why?

The main three she mentioned using regularly were Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok. At other points during the conversation, YouTube came up as well.

She mentioned having Facebook but how she doesn't really use it. She referenced how it is seen as a social media for Gen Xers (born from 1965 to 1980) and Boomers (born 1946 to 1964).

In general, she says she doesn't post regularly "like influencers" but looks at them  "constantly". 

Then I asked if she preferred to follow specific people and accounts or leave it up to the algorithms? Here she said it depended. On TikTok, she usually just scrolls through her FYP (for you page).  However, for Instagram, she uses it to follow more specific accounts.  

I asked about Snapchat and if she followed anyone there? She said no, that she uses it to communicate with friends. 

Since she said she didn't post much I asked how often she did post and what?

She said she liked posting pictures on Instagram of important days and fun things she's done.  After thinking about it she guessed she posted on Instagram once a month and they were typically highlights of things that happen. 

I asked if there were any social media sites she never really used. 

She replied X (Twitter). 

This is when she brought up liking YouTube for long-form videos. She said she uses YouTube for long videos and TikTok for short-form videos (over Instagram reels or YouTube shorts).

I asked about what her life might look like without social media?

She said she wouldn't be as connected with classmates. She said that social media is how she keeps up with them. 

For negative impacts, she also said with social media it's easy to compare. And it's easy to feel like you aren't enough. She said she has to actively remember that you don't get a full picture of people on social media. 

I asked how she thought social media might affect her? 

She said she does like buying products that people use. 

Next, I asked why she uses social media?

She said TikTok was an interesting mix of news, information, hope core, and fun videos. She admitted TikTok was where she gets most of her news. 

Then I asked if she feels it is used in schools appropriately? 

She told me that the only time social media is used at school is when they watch YouTube videos. 

She also told me that her principal posts on social media and it's not popular with the students. In general, she said she didn't like when teachers used social media to connect with students because "they would try too hard or not enough". 

I asked if she thought it should be used? 

She said no because she didn't like her peers seeing things she posted. "It's too open and public". She told me about how teachers tried to have students post videos during COVID-19 and kids resisted feeling uncomfortable. 

Next, I asked about technology in schools.

She said they have smartboards but that teachers are still struggling to use them. She said students would be playing around with a smartboard and find new things the teachers didn't know about. One example she gave was a student finding that there was a protracter function on the board that teachers were unaware of. For other technology, she said they get Chromebooks but they are bad quality making them hard to use. She also said that there were too many blocks so they couldn't be used for research. For example, a book mentioned suicide and they were not able to search for resources for that book. She also brought up for health class many things were blocked. 

I was also curious about her experience with AI.

She said she only really used Google AI. She likes how it summarized info. One of her classes requires understanding medical terms and concepts and she liked using Google AI for that. She also said she'd search and then use the resources to find out more. She says she hasn't ever used Chat GPT.

To see how her answers compared to other GenZ trends you can look here

(Image Credit: Comscore)

This conversation was really interesting. I enjoyed hearing from a different generation how they view/use social media. I think I will keep this conversation in mind as a librarian when dealing with different generations and how they view technology and social media.