40% of young people use Instagram and TikTok as a search engine

Many young people have the habit of seeking answers to their questions via TikTok or Instagram. 40 percent of Gen Z youth use these apps before a Google search. Instagram is also already capitalizing on the trend with the integration of maps in its app.

Instagram and TikTok

A solution to many questions is only a search away. The only question is in which service that search takes place. For many smartphone users, that is in Google, but for Gen Z young people who are 25 years old or younger, TikTok and Instagram are also a tool. 40 percent of young people prefer these apps to Google, according to figures from Business Insider.

TikTok serves as a handy and visual solution to simple problems, while young users use Instagram to find a nice restaurant, for example. You will immediately see which dishes the chefs conjure up from their chef’s hats. Meta, the parent company of Instagram, is also aware of this trend. In a Story on Instagram, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Instagram will soon get a map function that allows you to find the accounts of local restaurants, TechCrunch knows.

Look at advertising

Furthermore, younger people also have a different view of advertising in products. SurveyMonkey recently conducted a study in the Netherlands into tolerance towards advertising on streaming services such as Netflix. That research did not come about by chance. 58% of Millennials (aged 26-41) would consider switching to a subscription with advertising, versus 34% of Baby Boomers (aged 58-76), 42% of Gen X (aged 42-57) and 48% of Gen Z ( 25 years or younger). Advertising is therefore more popular with younger people, but less so with the youngest users.

Do you also notice that you sometimes use social media apps to look up all kinds of things, instead of a search engine like Google? Let us know in the comments.