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

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

“We are not your mom’s Facebook.”

This bold statement was passed around at Facebook’s event for younger creators in NYC earlier this summer.

As the social giant turns 20 this year, they know a big chunk of their future relies on Gen Z. Especially considering only 52% currently rank Facebook as their favorite platform, and only 33% of teens aged 13-17 use it at all.

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

Can Facebook actually show younger generations there’s more to it than “old” people and outdated memes?

To find the answer to that question, we have to start by unpacking why Gen Z decides to spend their social energy elsewhere.

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

Featured Voices:

Here’s Why Gen Z Isn’t on Facebook

“I think it comes down to the type of content on Facebook,” says Reece Callaway, Brand 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 X on Facebook who regularly post content that doesn’t resonate with Gen Z. Gen Z wants to see the latest culturally relevant content on their feeds, and Facebook just isn’t the place for that.”

And Callaway brings up a great point. The other part of Facebook’s attempted rebrand is to position themselves as a “hub for all things culturally happening” in the platform's underground.

Creating a culturally relevant space for younger generations is an important first step — but it's not necessarily an easy one to accomplish.

The Gen Z Perspective

Justina Thompson, Associate Marketing Manager at HubSpot (and Gen Z baddie herself), feels like 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 connected with aunts, uncles, and middle school friends whose profiles were also monitored by their parents,” says Thompson.

“Over time, I began to crave more autonomy over my online presence, which I couldn't do through Facebook.”

These are also reasons why I no longer have Facebook, and I'm a millennial.

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

It became hard to curate my timeline and my following to align with my interests.

Thompson also says that Gen Z wants to excavate their own identities online — especially where no one they know is watching. That’s why TikTok is so popular for this age group.

“People from anywhere can interact with your content and not have to know you IRL. There's no pre-existing impression that they have of you.”

Thompson continues, “Facebook represents having an attachment to communities that already know you. Places like Instagram and TikTok have proven that you don't have to come bearing proximity to anyone you know in order to build connections. That's the hurdle I think Facebook has yet to overcome.”

I second that — Facebook has to make that leap in order to compete. Channels like Instagram and TikTok have high-quality algorithms that make it easy for users to curate their feeds and find new people.

So, now, this all begs the question ... 

Can a ‘rebrand’ work … or is it too late?

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

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

And she’s not alone. Our research shows that social media is Gen Z’s #1 channel for product discovery, and 43% have bought something via social media in the past three months.

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

“However, Facebook isn‘t just its Marketplace. It’s an amalgamation of many things, and all of those pieces have to speak to each other in a way that makes sense,” says Thompson.

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

And because other channels like TikTok are already so popular among Gen Z, Callaway says it’s going to be difficult to reroute their attention.

“It’s going to be very hard to take Gen Z off of other platforms that they are already on,” he argues. “I think there is an opportunity for [Facebook] to rebrand themselves. However, they have 20 years of reputation to work against.”

He's right — Gen Z still sees Facebook as the social channel for older generations, filled with inspirational quotes and boomer humor. It’s not impossible, but that rep is going to be pretty hard to shake.

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

Facebook says they’re focusing on three key features to get Gen Z to buy in: the feed, reels, and creators.

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

From my perspective, this isn’t a bad strategy. Earlier, Thompson called out Facebook Marketplace as a positive, and serving tailored, audience-driven content always wins.

Callaway says, “I think they would need to get a lot of the biggest creators that Gen Z enjoys to consistently post content on Facebook and do it in a way that makes Gen Z choose Facebook to watch that content over a different platform.”

He continues, “Along with that, Facebook needs features that are unique to Facebook, not just a copy of a popular feature from a different platform.”

Thompson echoes the need for unique features to draw in younger users. Here are three ideas she thinks Gen Z would be interested in:

Someone at Facebook, probably:

Image Source

Facebook + Gen Z = 🫶🏽?

As Thompson shared, “Facebook has to understand that Gen Z‘s priorities are rapidly changing. We’re interested in getting uncensored access to the information we need to problem solve and live life enjoyably.”

It's an uphill battle, and not a guaranteed win, 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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