Survey Shatters Myth that Gen Z are Uninterested in Socio-political News

Homeless Media, Instagram, and Twitter also big winners with this generation

Jakarta, April 4, 2022 —Gen Z Indonesians are nothing like the stereotype of their generation – heavily into entertainment, self-absorbed and indifferent to current world affairs — a survey carried out by strategic communications consultancy Maverick’s Analytics Fellowship program suggests.

The study polled 722 respondents between 18 and 24-years old in Jabodetabek, Bandung, and Yogyakarta and found that while movies and TV series were the most sought-after category of news (31%), socio-political developments came a close second (24%).

These two categories stood out while the other categories such as celebrity, travel, sports, and music fell off sharply among the news categories,” said Maverick’s head of Analytics & Insights Felicia Nugroho.

“What was interesting that women (52% of category) were more interested than men (48%) in socio-political news,” she added. The survey was conducted by a final-year communication science student in Padjajaran University (UNPAD) who won the Maverick Analytics fellowship, under the supervision of Felicia.

Another surprising finding was the homeless media as a preferred source of news, added Felicia.  “Among Gen Z’s top five outlets for news, the most preferred (40%) was homeless media Folkative, followed by traditional media outlets CNN Indonesia (37%) and detik.com (31%). Another homeless media USSFeed (27%) placed fourth, beating out Kompas.com (23%).

These findings are corroborated by the other responses from the survey that indicates that Gen Z preferred to consume their news from social media (87%) rather than online news portals (22%) and news aggregators like Babe and Line Today (13%). Only 1 percent of respondents said they read any print media.

The survey also indicated that Gen Z preferred stories told in visuals and short texts, explaining why Folkative and USSFeeds are so popular. These preferences also placed Instagram as the most popular platform (45%) for news among Gen Z.

Confirming reports about how Twitter is enjoying renewed interest among users, Twitter came in second (31%) Twitter even managed to edge out YouTube (10%) as a source for news.

Another unexpected finding of the survey was that TikTok, supposedly the platform of choice of GenZs, was only the fourth most preferred source of news with 11%.

“The respondents said they chose Instagram because of its attractive visual content; Twitter because it allowed them to follow the news by trending topics and the opportunity to join the conversation and share their opinion,” said Maverick Analytics Fellow researcher Adrianus Sukanto.

The survey was carried out between December 28, 2021, and Feb 2, 2022. An equal number of male and female respondents were interviewed online.

“The results of the survey have huge implications for marketers and the media as Gen Z Indonesians, according to Statistics Indonesia, make up about a third of Indonesia’s population. Within a few years when they move into the work environment, they become the largest grouping of consumers of news and products, said Dr. Nindi Aristi, Head of Communication Department, UNPAD.

 “The survey also confirms the trend of younger Indonesians consuming news from their own preferred sources, such as homeless media and other social media sources, not necessarily from established news brands, as well as how they would like their news to be packaged,” added Nindi. “Marketers need to reorient how they approach GenZ if they want to resonate with this group of up-and-coming consumers.”

 

Maverick Indonesia

Maverick Indonesia is a strategic communication consultant that prizes the use of strategies moved by purposes, or goals that go beyond mere profit, and the use of analytics in running corporate or marketing communication of brands or companies. Maverick Indonesia is also experienced in anticipating and managing crisis situations.

Since its establishment in 2002, Maverick Indonesia has been entrusted with handling strategies and communication programs of blue-chip companies such as Airbus, Spotify, WhatsApp, Dyson, and Multi Bintang Indonesia.

In the past decade, Maverick Indonesia has actively built up good ties and engaged in collaboration with various communities, opinion leaders and stakeholders through initiatives such as PechaKucha Night Jakarta, Catalyst, MaVoice, The Recruit, and Comms Club.

 

Media Contact:

Christiani Ajeng R.

Associate, Media Outreach

+62 812 – 8864 – 0858

ajeng@maverick.co.id