Wattpad recently conducted a survey on the reading habits and preferences of Gen Z, and compares them to other generations. The results show that Gen Z loves to read, but they’re doing it their way. They’re reading on their phones, embracing more genres and the importance they place on diverse stories and voices is unmatched by any other generation.
The data signals a generational shift in consumption and attitudes towards fiction. With the rise of webnovels, e-books, webcomics, and other digital formats, Gen Z is normalizing reading on their phones. Today, 67% of Gen Z respondents say they read on their phones, compared to 51% of older generations who say they still prefer turning the page manually on a physical book, magazine or newspaper.
Diversity and access to a wider range of voices in stories they consume is a key consideration for Gen Z overall, across all media. Seventy-nine percent of Gen Z respondents said diversity and representation is important to them when choosing books, movies or other forms of entertainment – significantly more than other generations including Millennials (66%), Gen X (53%) and Boomers (34%). In fact, 60% of Gen Z readers reported looking for books, stories or comics that highlight marginalized groups, much higher than other generations at just 40%.
Not only does Gen Z want more diverse stories, they are celebrating and elevating a wider range of stories overall, embracing more genres than other generations. While older generations are happy to consume genre fare in TV and film, helping to drive massive box office returns on superhero adaptations, they are still less likely than Gen Z to consume genre fiction. Compared to Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers, Gen Z readers are embracing more of every genre, including more Fantasy & Sci-fi (42% vs. 30%), Horror (38% vs. 20%), and Superhero/Action (34% vs. 18%). Gen Z also reads more romance compared to other generations, at 43% vs 30%. Unsurprisingly, Gen Z also loves YA, with 50% enjoying the category, compared to only 15% of other generations.
Importantly, Gen Z aren’t just reading more of every genre, they are also reading more or at the same levels as they were before the COVID-19 pandemic. Among Gen Z surveyed, 35% say they read more today than they did two years ago, while 33% read about the same amount as before. In fact, with so many genres to explore and so much fiction to consume across various on and offline formats, Gen Z maintains strong and regular reading habits with nearly 40% reading daily or a few days each week, and 55% still reading once a week or more.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
