Understanding the social media use and behavior of genz and genx: a comparative study

Abstract

Social Media has become an integral part of our lives and India’s digital arena has grown ever since. Research around social media and well-being produce mixed results, this relevant field has been on a rise with constant changes to it. In order to have a nuanced understanding of social media use, this study aims to look at social media use and purpose through the established frameworks of psychological principles. The lack of comparative studies between the GenerationZ and GenerationX in the domain of psychology is taken into account to understand the social media use differences and similarities. Further a mixed method approach is taken as a way to tackle the complexities of social media. The study will compare the usage, pattern, attitude of and around social media. A total of N=93 participants are used for a t-test analysis to understand the significance between them. The research findings indicate significant differences between the purpose and use of social media among the cohorts based on SNUQ(Social Networking Usage Questionnaire) and SMUS (Social Media Use Scale), however these cohorts share similarities in multiple points. The key differences across generations being studied are platform based differences, sharing patterns while some similarities are unintentional use of social media, with no significant difference between GenZ and GenX when it comes to image based and belief based use of social media. The social media use motive among both cohorts is understood through the theories of Self Determination Theory (SDT), Uses and Gratification theory (U&G) and Socioemotional Selectivity Theory (SST). Where individuals are active consumers of social media and the underlying intent can be the key to understanding and fostering individuals better for the nonlinear digital world.