Maisie Lloyd
I'm passionate about recording the world, but most of all driven by creativity and collaborative environments. My experience revolves around the production of digital content, pertaining to graphic design, writing copy, and video and audio content.
Findings in a report by eMarketer shows a shift in user demographics on both Facebook and TikTok. With an increase in new users aged between 59-77 (baby boomers) on TikTok and those aged between 15-26 (Gen Z) are using and joining Facebook.
Facebook and TikTok’s primary consumers continue to steadily use the app, the report illustrates how social platforms can cater to a range of demographics.
Facebook has seen a reduction in use apart from in Gen Z users. This in part is due to the younger Gen-Z users signing up for the first time. Features like a marketplace, the ability to arrange events, and being able to join community groups.
Facebook continues to dominate the social media landscape as the most used platform. Shopify recently ranked Facebook in the first position at 3,070 million users, with YouTube ranking second with roughly half a million fewer users.
An interesting statistic from the report was that 75% of younger users had bought something on Facebook Marketplace. This highlights the convenience of shopping through social platforms, and with adjustable location, price and product filters, it encourages users to stay within the app rather than shopping elsewhere.
Users can join community groups which are like forums for users to discuss topics or for a local community to connect with each other. Users can also create their own groups or collaborate with others to have a team of admins. Similarly, the event creation tool allows users to create events both in person and online. This creates ease for users as all the details are in hand.
TikTok
eMarket forecasts that TikTok will continue to see stable growth amongst all generations. With the exception of the older demographic which is predicted to increase by approximately 1 million US users alone. Increasing the overall number of users from 8.7 to 9.7 million users.
TikTok’s accessible interface and wealth of content make it an easy-to-approach platform. It allows those from previous generations to connect with their younger family and friends, whilst accessing relevant content that is tailored to their content preferences.
What this tells us about social platforms
It’s become apparent by the change in demographics across platforms, that no platform is just for one age group. Rather, it gives people the opportunity to build and grow different communities with each platform they are on.
It demonstrates adaptability from TikTok, but also is symbolic of the shift across generations of the preferences to content whilst highlighting Facebook’s practical tools which make social media scrolling and purchasing that little bit easier.
