Gen Z Apps You Need To Know

Just when you thought you’d understood everything about the social media landscape, comes a new generation that switches it all up. Enter Gen Z. Born between 1995 and 2010, this digitally native generation has never known life without a smartphone. Their creativity and curiosity around the digital world have led to a bevy of new ways to create and digest content. 

TikTok

Currently, the hottest app for Gen Z, TikTok has taken over the classrooms of high schoolers everywhere. For those who remember the six-second creation app, Vine, are in luck, because TikTok is very similar. Users create quick videos that incorporate songs, memes, humor, dancing, political messages; you name it. The app has taken off globally that more than 500 million users are active on the platform, and ⅔ of users are under 30 years old. 

With daily hashtag challenges on TikTok that led “Old Town Road” to become the #1 song of all time and others like #Area51 and #POV, TikTok has an incredible impact on popular and meme culture. Watch this video to understand TikTok more. 

Brat

Each generation needs their own MTV, and for Gen Z it’s Brat. With over 3 million subscribers, Brat is a YouTube channel that produces six original shows that Gen Z’ers flock to daily. Shows like Crown Lake, Red Ruby, and Chicken Girls — which even led to an original movie with over 21 million views — are incredibly popular. Each actor and actress is now an influencer in their own right. Additionally, the video content, which is highly digestible in bite-sized form on YouTube translates to other social platforms to create a strong community for Brat devotees. 

NTWRK

Brands + content + commerce is the holy grail of Gen Z. NTWRK has capitalized on this as a live mobile-first shopping experience. With investors like Jimmy Iovine, Lebron James and Drake, they’re able to leverage A-list celebrities like Eminem and Pharell to sell apparel on the platform. While their parents are using QVC and HSN to purchase products from television, Gen Z is watching branded mobile content and buying merch from their favorite celebrities in-app using NTWKR. 

These three apps are just the beginning of what is to come for Gen Z. Brands will need to adapt to producing short-form creative videos, and in some cases, for only a couple of seconds. Additionally, Gen Z habits reveal that all aspects of a customer journey from awareness to conversion are all within an app. No longer are teens thinking of physical retail, but connecting to branded content and celebrities on their smartphones and purchasing apparel there.

If you’d like to learn more about Gen Z influencers, reach out to Captiv8 and let’s create some content!