Chinese GenZ Mobile Users Insights Report 2022

According to the survey data, among the 2.52 million apps on the China market, a total of 271,000 apps are social communication apps, and 68.5% of users use social software for “chat needs”, 54.7% for “acquaintance communication”, and 43.8% for “life or opinion sharing”. In addition, 40.9% and 39.4% of users are for “kill time” and “be acquainted with like-minded friends”. It can be seen that chat needs and acquaintance communication are the main forces driving the use of social software. While the room for growth of stranger social interaction should not be underestimated too.

In the Morketing research report, the mobile social behaviour of Gen Z users is being analysed and 6 “keywords” are listed:

• Lonely individuals

The Gen Z group who grew up after the millennium pursues “emotional companionship, belonging, respect and self-needs”. Most of Gen Z are a single child that grows up with the penetration of the internet, they tend to yearn to gather together for warmth and online gathering. They are more resistant to complex social relationships and social pressures.

• Emotional companionship

With the growth of the internet and single child Gen Z, coupled with less face-to-face offline communication, generally based on loneliness, the need for social interaction is stronger. From passive to active social interaction, they yearn for a long-term relationship centered on “accompanying”, while the integration based on “interest” on the mobile internet is more durable and convenient.

• Interests + Circles

In addition to having diverse hobbies, Gen Z is also a group that does not like to be defined by the outside world, however being deeply influenced by the internet, Gen Z will label themselves to expand friend circles and find like-minded people. For example, in the recent popular MBTI test, the Gen Z group use the test results to label themselves on social platforms, they expect to discuss and share with similar groups to achieve the purpose of making friends.

• Spiritual satisfaction

“Spiritual emptiness” is mainly a persistent pain point for Gen Z, the Gen Z group desires respect and empathy and needs emotional talk. In order to solve the problem of “emptiness and loneliness”, an anonymous social software function that does not need to reveal the real identity and appearance allows the Gen Z group to hide, and output their real feelings more freely and without worries, thus satisfying the spiritual world.

• Deeply interaction

For the evolution of social needs, the Gen Z user group expects to gain a sense of existence, not just a single text demand, but a multi-sensory comprehensive satisfaction that longs for interactivity.

• Immersive experience

As the aborigines of the first generation of mobile internet, Gen Z has basically been addicted to the “metaverse” that provides them with unlimited “world” possibilities, and at the same time, it satisfies the sense of achievement and recognition that Gen Z users desire for interactive friendships.

Based on the above, post-95s and post-00s have grown up, regardless of consumer brands or social platforms, has realized that they have become the backbone of consumption. However, the mobile social application still has difficulties to retain and gaining the favour of Gen Z users. If social products want to retain Gen Z users, fun, interactivity and metaverse form will be what companies should think about and measure.

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