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The key to engaging Gen Z: The generation shaping our world today
Protesters march along Kenyatta Avenue in Nairobi during anti-Finance Bill demos on June 25, 2024.
What you need to know:
- Gen Z is also an incredible political force globally, redefining politics and governance.
- In Kenya, Gen Z launched sustained protests to reject the finance bill and demand better governance.
Every era has its defining generation: Baby Boomers ignited mass consumer culture; Millennials transformed the workplace and digital habits; and Generation Z (also known as Gen Z) is emerging as a pivotal force shaping politics, economics, society, and culture.
Born between the mid-1990s and 2012, Gen Z is already the largest generation in history, accounting for roughly 25–30 per cent of the world’s population, over 2 billion people. Their financial heft is just as remarkable: by 2030, Gen Z’s global spending is projected to reach $12 trillion, nearly a fifth of total global expenditures. Importantly, more than half of that spending will come from emerging market — from Africa to Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. In regions like Africa, Gen Z is poised to match current millennial spending levels — both hovering around 30 per cent of consumer spending already.
Gen Z is also an incredible political force globally, redefining politics and governance. Championing politics, democracy, and governance that delivers to its people, they underscore a clear nexus between democracy and dignity. They challenge democracies premised on electoral cycles but don’t transform people’s lives.
Nowhere has this been so profound than in the Global South, like in Asia and Africa. In Bangladesh, university students, tired of a regime that kept them in poverty, carried out sustained protests that drove the regime out of power. In Kenya, Gen Z, frustrated by a governance system that didn’t deliver to them and continued to impose taxes without accountability, launched sustained protests to reject the finance bill and demand better governance.
Their sheer size, economic and political power, social and cultural influence make them pivotal today. “Engaging Gen Z” is now a mantra across organizations, politics, marketing, and activism. Programs have been initiated, departments created, budgets allocated, platforms created to engage Gen Z. Yet, despite widespread efforts, most engagement strategies are failing. Too often, organizations assume that opening simply a TikTok or Instagram account is enough. Many recycle polished, corporate tactics for older generations, producing content that feels inauthentic, out of touch, and easy for Gen Z to scroll past. The real challenge is not access to the platforms where Gen Z lives, but understanding how they use those platforms, who they trust, and what values drive their engagement.
Understanding Gen Z
Largely raised by Gen X parents and influenced by Millennials, Gen Z are true digital natives, born and raised in the era of smartphones, social media, and constant connectivity. Unlike older generations, they see technology not as novelty but as utility—a tool to be leveraged.
Culturally, Gen Z blends nonconformist values with traditional traits. They value individuality, inclusivity, and creativity, but also hold to values like hard work and financial responsibility. They are more cautious with money than Millennials at the same age, skeptical of debt, and more likely to seek multiple income streams. Importantly, they are privacy-conscious, preferring time-bound or audience-controlled sharing rather than open broadcasting.
Their worldview is also shaped by turbulence: the 2008 financial crisis, climate anxiety, COVID-19, political polarization, and the rise of mental health challenges. As a result, they are skeptical of institutions but highly responsive to authenticity, transparency, and purpose driven action.
Their social media habits
Gen Z’s digital behavior is diverse, but they use platforms for distinct purposes. Approximately 89 per cent of Gen Z are active on Instagram, and 90 per cent of all users are under 35. Gen Z curates carefully here, preferring quality over quantity. Oversharing or spamming quickly leads to disengagement. About 61 per cent use Snapchat. It is less polished, more personal, and heavily used for real-life sharing with close friends. Manual audience control gives it an intimate feel. Over 82 per cent of Gen Z use TikTok regularly, making it one of their most defining platforms. It is where they discover trends, entertainment, news, and even products.
The algorithm favors creativity and authenticity, not polish. Roughly 45 per cent of Gen Z use X, mostly for real-time news, activism, and conversations. It’s a space for solidarity and debate, not broadcasting. Around 91 per cent of Gen Z use YouTube, making it their most widely adopted platform. They treat it as a search engine, a learning tool, and a source of entertainment. While most consume rather than create, it dominates their longer-form attention.
Engagement is minimal on Facebook. For many in Gen Z, Facebook is “for parents,” and no longer relevant to their social lives. This ecosystem reflects Gen Z’s layered digital identities: curated on Instagram, intimate on Snapchat, viral and experimental on TikTok, dialogic on X, and educational on YouTube.
Customizing content for platform and audience
Evidence shows that Gen Z prioritizes authenticity and transparency. They disengage quickly when content feels overproduced or inauthentic. What works? Real, behind-thescenes, unfiltered storytelling is more compelling than corporate gloss. Purpose-driven messaging is more compelling to Gen Z and is likely to drive engagement. They respond to brands and organizations that show genuine commitment to values such as inclusivity and ethics. Performative activism without action fails to drive engagement and often leads to unfollow. Gen Z also prefers peer-driven influence.
For instance, evidence shows that around about 70 per cent of Gen Z rely on user-generated content when making buying decisions. They see user-generated content as authentic and community-driven. Bite-sized video works best for Gen Z, with TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts being critical. Short, visually dynamic, mobile-first content captures their attention.
Gen Z also sees microinfluencers with small but engaged communities as more persuasive than celebrities. For them, relatability and sincerity matter more than reach. For Gen Z, emotional resonance, through humor, empathy, and solidarity, drives shares and engagement far more than logicheavy, brand-driven content.
So, where do we go wrong?
Often, we make very simplistic assumptions regarding Gen Z. We oversimplify and stereotype Gen Z as a uniform demographic, missing their diversity in backgrounds, values, and behaviors. This one-size-fits-all approach leads to tone-deaf strategies. We assume that we know what they want and that they will come to our platforms to engage as long as we create content that we assume resonates with them.
The truth is, Gen Z wants to connect and engage on their own terms using their preferred platforms and to be engaged by messengers they consider legitimate to them. Platform dumping, posting the same content across channels without adapting to each platform’s culture, is a put-off to Gen Z.
We also fail to appreciate the power of emotional and viral storytelling, often pushing content driven purely by logic, tied to our brands, and lacking in emotional impact. In addition, we ignore the quick rise and fall of Gen Z trends, meaning that campaigns anchored only in trends without substance often fizzle out fast and fail to build lasting engagement.
The bottom line
In essence, engaging Gen Z requires a more sophisticated strategy beyond setting up social media accounts or repurposing old tactics. Success is premised on meeting them on their own terms, amplifying the voices they consider legitimate, and offering authentic, values driven engagement.
Understanding who Gen Z really is, how they view technology, and how they use social media is the key to building trust and lasting influence with this most dynamic and influential generation of our time.
Ruth Omondi is a narrative strategist and PhD researcher on youth political engagement
