Everything you ever wanted to know about Gen Z

Tiffany Zhong is the founder and CEO of ZebraIQ, a platform that allows creators to make exclusive fan communities.

She has 2 other noteworthy titles: “The Gen Z Whisperer” and “The Mary Meeker of Gen Z.” 

Why? For years, she has been surveying the demographic born between 1995 and 2010, and providing valuable insights on a group with $143B in spending power.

Zhong just released a 116-slide presentation — the 2020 State of Gen Z Report (download here).

She gave The Hustle an early look, and here are our fave findings:

A video-first generation 

• 65% of Gen Z prefers FaceTime as the way to keep in touch with friends
• Mobile video is how Gen Z prefers to learn and stay up to date on news

They created their own emoji language

Seemingly harmless emojis have different meanings to the Gen Z crowd.

Gen Z’s ‘3rd places’ are in the digital realm

Starbucks has long popularized the notion of a “3rd place” — a spot for people to gather outside of home (“1st place”) and work (“2nd place”).

For Gen Z, the new “3rd place” gathering spots are online gaming (Fortnite, Twitch) and social chat apps (Discord, Houseparty).

How to communicate with Gen Z 

Think mobile-first with an understanding of trending emojis and memes. Impressively, the Twitter account for the State of New Jersey (@NJGov) has mastered this (look at these PSAs for mask wearing!):

Up-and-coming companies catering to Gen Z 

Here are a few startups (much more in the report):

• Genies is an avatar company that builds digital identities, including for notable celebrities (JLo, Justin Bieber).
• Bunch is a mobile video chat layer on top of games.
• Unfold is a mobile app to make stunning social media stories.