Snapchat fans, get excited yet again.
The Story-sharing platform has published yet another free guide, but this time it’s a bit different than sharing yearly insights.
Snap Inc. and Protein Agency have collaborated on a research project investigating the impact of age and culture on friendship, called The Friendship Report.
As Snap Inc. explains, their core goal has always been to help friends have fun while communicating and these new findings help show what matters in friendships.
Research was conducted in four age categories, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials and Generation Z, and in nine countries, Australia, France, Germany, India, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the U.S. and the U.K.
The report defines the categories as so:
The findings are very interesting, especially when you look how region affects opinions of friendship.
Participants in India, the Middle East and Southeast Asia have, on average, three times as many best friends – defined as someone you share everything with – than those in Australia, the U.K. and the U.S.
People from this region are also more likely to look for “intelligent and cultured” as a key personality trait whereas those in the West prioritise “non-judgmental”.
Results have also differed by age category, one of the most notable differences being the amounts shared with friends and what we share.
As the report shows, what we feel comfortable discussing with our friends has shifted over time; while a significant percentage of Boomers would not share their love life or money matters with their friends, that number has fallen by more than half with Generation Z.
Generation Z is also described as the most “share-happy” demographic as a very small proportion of them would hold things back from their friends across all categories.
This suggests that as time progresses we are becoming more open and meaningful with our friendships.
The final part of the report focuses on comparing Millennials and Generation Z are these two age categories use social media much more frequently than the older two.
As the charts show, Generation Z spend more time on Snapchat while the majority of Millennials use Facebook every day or every few days to message their friends.
The report says this would suggest that Millennials are more focused on having larger social networks, such as many Facebook friends, while the newer generation is actually downsizing and is seeking fewer and more meaningful friendships.
This provides a hopeful shift for the future. We’re sure Snap and other social media networks will make use of this new data to facilitate the best communication for us.
Click here to see the full report.
Do these results shock you? Let us know in the comments below.
Written by Anushé Samee. Photo credit: Snap Inc.