‘Not Your Mom’s Facebook’ — Is It Enough to Attract Gen Z? – InstantFollowerz

Welcome to The Perspective, series where HubSpotters weigh in on the latest business and marketing trends.

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“We’re not your mom’s Facebook.”

This bold statement was passed on a Facebook event for young creators in New York earlier this summer.

As the social giant turns 20 this year, they know a large part of their future rests on Gen Z. Especially considering only 52% currently rank Facebook as their favorite platformand only 33% of teenagers aged 13-17 use it at all.

(By comparison — 72% of Gen Z rank TikTok as their favorite platform, and 63% of teens actively use it.)

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Can Facebook actually show younger generations that there’s more to it than “old” people and outdated memes?

To find the answer to that question, we need to start by figuring out why Generation Z is choosing to spend its social energy elsewhere.

And who better to ask than a member of HubSpot’s awesome social team and one of my amazing Gen Z colleagues.

Featured Voices:

Here’s why Gen Z isn’t on Facebook

“I think it all comes down to the type of content on Facebook,” he says Reece Callawaybrand and social content manager at HubSpot.

“Since Facebook is one of the oldest SOCIAL MEDIA platforms still around, we see a lot of millennials and Gen Xers on Facebook regularly posting content that doesn’t resonate with Gen Z. Gen Z wants to see the latest culturally relevant content on their feed, and Facebook simply it’s not the place for that.”

And Callaway makes a great point. Another part of Facebook’s rebranding effort is to position themselves as a “hub for all things happening in culture” in the platform’s underground.

Creating a culturally relevant space for younger generations is an important first step – but not necessarily easy to achieve.

Generation Z perspective

Justina Thompsonassistant marketing manager at HubSpot (a badass Gen Z herself), thinks Gen Z isn’t on Facebook like other generations because it has a reputation for being family-focused rather than a true social platform.

“When I was growing up, my Facebook was monitored by my mom, and I primarily used it to stay in touch with aunts, uncles, and friends from high school whose profiles were also followed by their parents,” says Thompson.

“Over time, I began to crave more autonomy in terms of my online presence, which I couldn’t do with Facebook.

These are also the reasons why I don’t have Facebook anymore, and I’m a millennial.

My timeline was a mix of random posts from family members along with the occasional “hbd” from someone I hadn’t interacted with since grade school.

It became difficult to curate my timeline and my following to match my interests.

Thompson also says Gen Z wants to mine their identities online — especially where no one they know is looking. This is why TikTok is so popular with this age group.

“People from anywhere can interact with your content and don’t need to know your IDP. There’s no preconceived impression they have of you.”

Thompson continues, “Facebook is about connecting to communities that already know you. Places like Instagram and TikTok have proven that you don’t have to get close to anyone you know to build connections. That’s a hurdle I think Facebook has yet to overcome.”

In other words, Facebook has to make that leap to compete. Channels like Instagram and TikTok have high-quality algorithms that make it easy for users to curate content and find new people.

So all of this begs the question…

Can the ‘rebranding’ work… or is it too late?

In theory, Thompson thinks Facebook’s overhaul could work. I’m inclined to agree. But she says it’s going to take a lot more than changing what we see on our feeds to get Gen Z back there.

“I think investing in what’s already on the platform, like Facebook Marketplace, is a good place to start — especially because I’ve personally had positive experiences with that part of Facebook,” says Thompson.

And she is not alone. Our research shows that SOCIAL MEDIA is Gen Z’s #1 channel for product discovery, and 43% have made a purchase through SOCIAL MEDIA in the past three months.

Plus, Facebook Marketplace is in fact Gen Z’s big draw on the platform right now.

“However, Facebook is not just its market. It’s a combination of a lot of things, and all those pieces have to talk to each other in a way that makes sense,” says Thompson.

She continues, “I think TikTok is doing a great job at this. While I’m not the biggest fan of TikTok’s monetization efforts, they’re well done because they’re integrated into the content you see as you scroll.”

And since other channels like TikTok are already so popular among Gen Z, Callaway says it will be difficult to divert their attention.

“It’s going to be very difficult to get Gen Z off other platforms where they’re already present,” he claims. “I think there is an opportunity to [Facebook] to rebrand themselves. However, they have 20 years of reputation to work against.”

He’s right – Gen Z still sees Facebook as a social channel for older generations, filled with inspirational quotes and boomer mood. It’s not impossible, but that tail is going to be pretty hard to shake.

So what’s the key to bringing back Gen Z?

Facebook says they focus on three key features to get Gen Z to buy: feed, reels, and creators.

They plan to highlight more relevant content, including Facebook Marketplace, Facebook Dating, and groups and events to attract a younger audience.

From my perspective, this is not a bad strategy. Previously, Thompson called Facebook Marketplace a positive, and serving up custom, audience-driven content always wins.

Callaway says, “I think we should get a lot of the biggest creators that Gen Z enjoys consistently posting content on Facebook in a way that Gen Z chooses Facebook to watch that content over another platform.”

He continues, “At the same time, Facebook needs features that are unique to Facebook, not just a copycat of a popular feature from another platform.”

Thompson reiterates the need for unique features to attract younger users. Here are three ideas he thinks Gen Z would be interested in:

• Customizable Timeline: “Make the timeline more responsive so Gen Z can filter out random family posts while still getting the information we actually want.”
• Easier content monetization: “TikTok has a Creator Fund, but it’s incredibly difficult to get into… maybe Facebook could make some of those guidelines more accessible.”
• Application integrations: “I like that Tiktok has become more integrated with other apps — like CapCut — to make it easier for people to create quick content ready to be published. I think that kind of integration would be great.”

Someone on Facebook, probably:

Image source

Facebook + Gen Z = 🫶🏽?

As Thompson said, “Facebook has realized that Gen Z’s priorities are changing rapidly. We are interested in getting uncensored access to the information we need to solve problems and enjoy life.”

It’s an uphill battle and not a guaranteed victory, but I think Facebook can take steps to bring Gen Z back — as long as they take notes from the competition and refine the platform to meet their social needs.

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