New study shows Gen Z spends even more time online than Millennials

If you think that Millennials have a screen addiction, just wait 'till you hear about Generation Z.

A new study by the video service company Wibbitz shows that while Millennials (1980-1996) spend 2.5 hours a day watching videos on their devices, the new wave of young people, Gen Z (1997-2010), spend nearly an hour more per day, 3.4 on average, watching online videos.

The report, which surveyed 1000 Americans aged 18-37, takes a deep dive into the world of video, social media, online advertising and the consumption habits of Millennials and Gen Z.

Video consumption going up

Across all devices (smartphones, tablets, laptops, computers and TV’s), Gen Z tops Millennials in video consumption. Nine out of ten members of Gen Z spend at least one hour a day watching videos on their phones trailed only slightly by eight of ten Millennials doing the same.

Somewhat surprisingly, a strong majority of both Gen Z and Millennials, 60% and 70% respectively, spend at least one hour a day consuming video through the television.

The preferred social media platform for video consumption amongst Millennials is Facebook whereas Gen Z views most of their videos on YouTube.

Favourite social media platforms

When it comes to the type of videos consumed across the various platforms, both groups turn to Facebook when looking for video coverage of the news.

In terms of career development and entertainment options, video giant YouTube tops the list as the most popular site for both Gen Z and Millennial viewers.

The overall top three social media sites for Gen Z are YouTube in first place, Instagram in second, and Twitter in third. Contrary to popular belief, Snapchat is not near as popular with members of Gen Z as other fellow social media giants, falling to eighth place.

For Millennials, their most popular platforms, in order, are Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. Snapchat fared much better in this older group, landing in the fourth most popular spot among Millennials.

Brands & advertising

Brands looking to get an edge amongst these generations will really have to up their content offering as both groups only list brand accounts as 10% of the accounts they follow across all platforms.

However, Instagram stands out as the platform that provides the best avenue for connecting with potential customers.

When it comes to advertising on social media, Gen Z are 15% more likely to feel neutral about social video ads whereas their Millennial counterparts are 16% more likely to hate them.

Of the respondents across both generations who said they like social video ads, nearly six out of ten of them say they purchased something right after viewing a social video ad.

These same respondents were most likely to name YouTube as their preferred social media platform.

A key takeaway for brands looking to connect to their followers — both Gen Z and Millennials said they felt “more interested and informed” after seeing a video that a brand posted to social media.