Generation Z shares more information online, which exposes them to more risk. — Photography ferrantraite/Getty Images/AFP Relaxnews
Not all advice is good advice. While Generation Z has a habit of turning to social networks for guidance in financial management, this habit may also make them more of a target for scams.
In the US, Generation Z is five times more likely to seek financial advice via social networks than people aged 41 and older. And they're more likely to do so than any other generation. According to a study conducted by the website MoneyZine, this trend concerns 27% of Generation Z. However, while 31% of 18-40 year olds feel more confident and informed when investing their money, 18-29 year olds are also the most likely to be concerned about online identity theft.
According to a SocialCatfish study of 700 adult US residents, 15% of 18-29 year olds reported having been a victim of identity theft compared to 8% of those over 45. According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, those under 20 are the most affected since 2017 with a 156% increase in victims between 2017 and 2020, up from 9,053 to a staggering 23,186 victims.
Born with a smartphone in hand
"Gen Z are a digital-first generation - the first generation to have grown up with instant access to the Internet. For this reason, the bite-sized format of social media likely holds a lot of appeal, enabling them to consume content via their mobile devices and interact with it directly," explained Luke Eales, CEO of MoneyZine.com, to Forbes. Prabhakar Raghavan, Google senior vice-president responsible for Search, earlier this year, evoked the trend of young web users increasingly turning to social networks with their search inquiries.
TikTok in particular has seen a trend, with a surge on its platform of accounts specializing in financial advice. According to a study by the Federal Trade Commission in 2021, more than one in four people have already confessed to losing money through fraud on social networks. Recently, even Kim Kardashian was nailed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Wall Street watchdog, for promoting a cryptocurrency on social networks, without specifying that it was an advertisement for which the businesswoman was paid.
In addition to being born into a society where the use of smartphones is essentially second nature, Generation Z also demonstrates a certain distrust of more traditional media: "Research found that more than half of Gen Z and millennial respondents described misinformation as a 'major problem,'" Luke Eales explained to Forbes. "In contrast, social media provides the opportunity to connect to people, rather than faceless media organizations," he added. – AFP Relaxnews
