Who Reigns On Instagram: Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, or Boomers?

Technology usage across all generations from Baby Boomers to Gen X to Millennials and beyond continues to grow.

Covid accelerated digitalization and the number of active social media users has increased by 10.5%.

It became interesting for us to look at Instagram influencers in terms of their belonging to a particular generation and their features of content production.

Key Findings

  • Most Instagram influencers are Millennials (54%), with Gen Z in second place with 31%. Gen X and Boomers 4.9% and 0.62%, respectively.

  • Gen X influencers have 3 times more male influencers than women, and boomers have 5 times more male influencers than women.

  • Gen Z influencer followers are more active and more engaged in influencers' content. Gen X has the least ER.

  • Every 9th Gen X and Boomer Influencer has the blue verification Instagram checkmark. Among Gen Z, the least number of accounts is verified – only 3.15%.

  • The account of Vice President @kamalaharris is among the Top 5 most mentioned Instagram accounts by influencers from generations of Gen Z, Gen X, and BoomersMillennials only have brands among the Top 5 most mentioned accounts

Distribution of Instagram Influencers by Generations

Most Instagram influencers are Millennials (54%), with Gen Z in second place with 31%. Gen X and Boomers 4.9% and 0.62%, respectively.

Gen X influencers have 3 times more male influencers than women, and boomers have 5 times more male influencers than women.

Average Engagement rate of Instagram Influencers by Generations

Engagement rate of Instagram Influencers by generations

Gen Z influencer followers are more active and more engaged in influencers' content. Gen X has the least ER.

Instagram verification by Generations

Instagram verification by Generations

Every 9th Gen X and Boomer Influencer has the blue verification Instagram checkmark. Among Gen Z, the least number of accounts is verified – only 3.15%.

Such a big difference suggests that among Gen X and Boomer influencers there are more public and famous people: artists, writers, and politicians. Since Gen Z and Millennials are dominated by social media personalities.

Average Audience Quality Score by Generations

Average Audience Quality Score by Generations

Gen X and the Boomer generation have the highest average AQS scores. Gen Z has the lowest quality AQS.

Audience Quality Score (AQS) is an internal HypeAuditor metric – the result of 8 metrics that are split into 4 key categories:

  1. Engagement Rate (ER) (% of followers who are engaged with the influencer’s content),

  2. Active Audience Type (% of real people among influencer’s followers),

  3. Growth (abnormal activities detected in Followers & Followings graphs),

  4. Comments Authenticity (% of recent comments which come from accounts that don’t participate in Engagement Pods.)

It gives a general idea of the audience quality of an influencer account.

Gen Z Influencers on Instagram

Gen Z Influencers on Instagram

Gen Z and Millennials dominate Gen Z’s subscribers. They are almost equally divided, about 48%. Gen X is only 3.4% and the number of Boomers is very insignificant – 0.2%

Millennials Influencers on Instagram

Millennials Influencers on Instagram

The majority of Millennial subscribers are also Millennials 55.27%. Gen Z comes in second with 39.5%. Gen X and Boomers barely gain 5% together: 4.79% for Gen X and 0.44% for Boomers.

Gen X Influencers on Instagram

Gen X Influencers on Instagram

The majority of Gen X’s subscribers are Millennials (59.61%). Gen Z is slightly less – 31.94%. Gen X and Boomers 7.27% and 1.18% respectively.

Boomers Influencers on Instagram

Boomers Influencers on Instagram

Boomers also have a majority of Millennials subscribers – 58.37%. Gen Z is almost two times less – 29.9%. And the largest number of Gen X and Boomers among all generations – 9.74% and 1.99%, respectively.

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Author
Nick is a marketing and research specialist at HypeAuditor, with a passion for exploring social media trends and uncovering insights to help businesses make informed decisions, recognized by leading publications and events for his expertise in influencer marketing and dedicated to driving innovation in the dynamic world of social media.
Topics:Social Media MarketingState of Influencer Marketing
April 19, 2021
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Author
Nick is a marketing and research specialist at HypeAuditor, with a passion for exploring social media trends and uncovering insights to help businesses make informed decisions, recognized by leading publications and events for his expertise in influencer marketing and dedicated to driving innovation in the dynamic world of social media.
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