It was found that the younger generation in Korea relatively prefers Instagram among social media, and those in their 50s or older prefer bands. Regardless of age, the most used service was KakaoTalk. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — A new survey has revealed distinct generational preferences in social media use among South Koreans, with younger users gravitating toward Instagram while those over 50 show a stronger affinity for Band. However, KakaoTalk remains the most widely used platform across all age groups.
According to the “2024 Social Media User Survey” released by the Korea Press Foundation on February 6, KakaoTalk led usage rates at 98.9%, followed by YouTube at 84.9%. Instagram ranked third at 38.6%, followed by Band at 28.6% and Naver Blog at 21.7%.
While KakaoTalk and YouTube maintained the top two positions across all age groups, notable differences emerged in third-place preferences. Among users aged 19-29 and those in their 30s, Instagram usage rates were 80.9% and 70.7% respectively. For those in their 40s, Instagram ranked third at 47.5%, with Band following closely at 36.8%. Users in their 50s and 60s showed a stronger preference for Band, with usage rates of 40.6% and 31.1%, respectively.
The study, which examined 43 different services and platforms used for sharing opinions, experiences, perspectives, and information, categorized social media into five categories: social networking services (SNS), messenger services, online video platforms, blogs, and online cafes/communities.
Usage patterns varied according to platform purpose. Respondents said that Instagram and Facebook were primarily used for communication with personal acquaintances, while YouTube and other video platforms were favored for consuming content from influencers and celebrities.
When examining connection patterns, SNS users primarily follow friends and seniors (74.1%), family members (55.5%), and work colleagues (45.2%). In contrast, video platform users primarily follow influencers and professional content creators (47%) and celebrities and athletes (38.2%).
The survey also revealed that social media news consumers pay relatively little attention to news sources. Only 34.7% of respondents said they knew which news organization provided the content they viewed, while 31.6% did not. Those who said they usually don’t check news organizations (45.4%) outnumbered those who do (22.5%) by nearly two to one. Source-checking tendencies were lowest among those over 70 and increased among younger age groups.
About 26.1% of respondents reported purchasing goods through social media, with KakaoTalk being the most popular platform for such transactions at 53.4%.
The survey was conducted by Metrics Corp. on behalf of the Korea Press Foundation, polling 3,000 adults aged 19 and over through face-to-face interviews from October to November last year.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
