New Research from Sprout Social Finds Social Media is the Top Place Gen Z Turns to for Search, Surpassing Traditional Search Engines

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  More than 1 in 3 consumers across age groups prefer searching on social platforms first for product reviews and recommendations

• 76% of users say social content influenced a purchase in the last six months, including 90% of Gen Z

• Respondents say social platforms deliver net-positive impacts on their mental health, financial decisions, and social lives

Gen Z isn’t just spending more time on social media; they’re turning to it first when they need answers, which is shaping how they live, learn, and shop. According to new research from Sprout Social, an industry-leading provider of cloud-based social media management software, this generation now prefers social media over traditional search engines. This shift is fueled by a growing trust in social, especially among younger generations, who largely report meaningful benefits from their time on social platforms, including improved mental health, financial literacy, and social connections.

Sprout Social’s Q2 2025 Pulse Survey, conducted by Glimpse, surveyed more than 2,200 social users across the US, UK, and Australia. The research finds that when looking for information, 41% of Gen Z turn to social platforms first, making social now the #1 place they search, ahead of traditional search engines (32%), chat-based AI tools (11%), and friends/family (9%). In addition, 37% of consumers across age groups prefer to go to social first when searching for product reviews and recommendations, while 35% prefer to use it first to find local restaurants and activities, underscoring social’s prominent role in discovery and commerce. This discoverability has a real bottom-line impact for businesses, as 76% of respondents say content on social (e.g., ads, influencer posts, brand content) has influenced a purchase in the past six months, with this number rising to 90% among Gen Z and 84% among Millennials.

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“Largely driven by Gen Z, social is becoming the new search engine,” said Scott Morris, chief marketing officer of Sprout Social. “This shift is transformative, not just for social media, but for commerce and business overall, because it’s changing how consumers discover products and brands. For marketers, this means making social the front-line channel for building awareness, managing perception, engaging with customers, and receiving feedback. Social is where discovery happens now, making it the future of business.”

The findings shed light on why younger generations are choosing social as their first stop for search: they trust it to deliver not just information, but meaningful, positive experiences. While social media isn’t without its flaws, the survey shows that a vast majority of younger users report positive outcomes from their time on social. This is likely a result of Gen Z and Millennials using social more intentionally–to search, engage, and more actively curate their feeds to reflect their interests and values. The findings show that:

• 60% of all users say social has had a net-positive impact on their mental health in the past six months, v. 18% who say it’s had a negative impact. This number rises to 68% for Millennials and 71% for Gen Z.
• 47% say social has helped improve their financial decision-making, with this number even higher among Millennials (53%) and Gen Z (62%). Only 13% of respondents say it’s had a negative impact.
• 53% report improved social lives through social media engagement, with younger generations (61% for Millennials and 64% for Gen Z) even more likely to view social’s impact as positive. Only 14% of respondents say it’s had a negative impact.

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Additional findings from Sprout Social’s Q2 2025 Pulse Survey include:

• Facebook (81%), YouTube (71%), and Instagram (66%) remain the top platforms, with YouTube moving up to the second most popular platform since Sprout’s latest Index report
• 51% of global users plan to spend more time on community-based platforms like Reddit in the next six months. This number rises to 63% for Gen Z and Millennials
• Gen Z (52%) and Millennials (53%) are leading the adoption of creator-driven platforms like Substack and Patreon
• The content consumers rely on social media for most is cooking and recipe inspiration (50%), followed by TV/movie recommendations (43%), music discovery (36%), and a wide range of personal interest topics, including sports, beauty, health, news, fashion, and travel.