Abstrakti
Social media is now integrated part of every life for most of us, yet people from different generations engage and interact differently with these platforms. It is very important to understand these differences for researchers, business professionals and policy makers. This paper examines the social media patterns of use present among Generation Y (born in 1981-1996) and Generation Z (born in 1997-2012) in North Macedonia. The study investigates generational differences in time spent on social media and platform preferences. Data is gathered from 574 participants and analyzed through Pearson's Chi-Square tests and the results show statistically significant differences between the two generations at the level of p < 0.001. The results are interpreted using key theoretical frameworks, including Uses and Gratifications Theory and the Honeycomb Framework of social media. Generation Z spends more time on social media on daily basis while Generation Y use of social media is shorter and more moderated. Regarding the platform preferences Generation Y shows a stronger preference for Instagram and Facebook, while Generation Z mostly uses Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat. Instagram is the most popular and most used platform across both generations. This paper contributes to empirical evidence on generational social media use in North Macedonian context as an area that remains underrepresented in the existing literature.
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