Kenya Gen Z-led demos see upsurge in social media use
Youths take part at the Uhuru Park grounds in Nairobi County during the Gen Z Memorial concert honour of those killed during anti-tax protests on July 7, 2024. PHOTO | FILE | NMG
Business and Technology Reporter in Nairobi, Kenya
Nation Media Group
Various social media platforms have recorded a sharp rise in usage in the quarter when the Zoomer generation (Gen Z) staged deadly protests across the country, largely mobilised on the digital platforms.
Facebook, which is currently the most popular social platform in the country, is now used by over half of Kenyans, marking the first time a social media app has crossed the 50 percent mark in usage, latest data by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) shows.
Other platforms such as WhatsApp, TikTok, and Twitter, have also seen a surge in usage, potentially arising from their increasingly important role as information sources during the period of the protests that went on for weeks on specific days.
According to the CA data, during the quarter to June this year, Facebook usage recorded a 2.6 percent rise to 52 percent, from the previous quarter’s 49.5 percent, and a cumulative rise of 6.8 percent since July last year.
WhatsApp usage rose by 1.5 percent to 48.5 percent of the population aged 15 and above, while X (formerly Twitter) users increased by 2.1 percent to 12.8 percent of the population.
Usage of video-sharing platform TikTok, saw the sharpest rise in the period, hitting 28.1 percent, from the pervious quarter’s 23 percent, representing a 5 percent rise and a cumulative 8.8 percent since the last July.
Few platforms saw a drop in usage, among them Instagram, Telegram, and LinkedIn, all of which have traditionally recorded low usage amongst Kenyans, each being used by at most 13 percent of the population.
The rise in the usage of the other mainstream platforms was accompanied by a surge in internet accessibility, especially among the Gen Z age group and younger Millennials (ages 18 to 34).
Over the period, the proportion of Kenyans aged 18 to 24 who accessed the internet increased to 78 percent from 77 percent the previous quarter, while those aged 25 to 34 to 68 percent from 67 percent, according to CA data.
