Latin America Teen Culture
Publicly available information suggests that the interests and behavior of teens or young adults in Latin America, when it comes to posting and sharing content on social media, differ from one social media platform to another. For these young users, who have grown in an age where opportunities abound and middle class families outnumber the poor, Facebook is about presenting socially acceptable versions of themselves to family and friends, Instagram is about stylized presentation, and Snapchat is about spontaneity and playfulness. Young and old users of Stories on the Facebook family of apps, in general, want content that is uplifting, inspiring, authentic, or personally relevant.
- Teens aged 12-17 in Latin America, particularly Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina, are very much interested in their appearance. Whereas only 60% of teens worldwide express concern about how they look, 75% of teens in Latin America do so, with almost equal percentages of teenage boys and girls in the region worrying about their appearance. These figures suggest that teens in Latin America will likely post only presentable versions of themselves online.
- Whereas 67% of teens worldwide consider themselves business-minded or entrepreneurial, 77% of Latin American teens describe themselves as such. Also, nearly all teens in Latin America believe they should stand up for what they think is right. Ninety-seven percent of them, compared to 91% of teens worldwide, believe so.
- Video consumption habits of mobile-dominant online video viewers in Mexico and Brazil suggest that mobile-first teens or Gen Zers are more likely than other demographic groups in these countries to discover new products, be motivated to book a vacation or trip, visit new restaurants, attempt new wellness or fitness routines, or watch new television shows.
- Users of stories on the Facebook family of apps in Brazil, aged 13-54, want brands to post uplifting or inspiring stories.
- Users of Instagram Stories in Brazil, aged 13-55, associate Instagram Stories with uplifting content, creativity, and visual beauty.
- Users of stories on the Facebook family of apps in Mexico, ages 13-54, want brands to post stories about personally relevant events such as concerts, shows, and fairs.
- Of users of Instagram Stories in Brazil, aged 13-55, 74% use the feature to know what their friends have been up to, 64% use the feature to see authentic or unfiltered content or what they call "everyday moments" or "non-moments", 63% use the feature to view funny or playful content, and 32% use the feature to find information.
- Whereas 73% of teens worldwide will share funny content immediately after encountering it, 77% of teens in Latin America will do so.
- Young Facebook users in Argentina, aged 18-29, indicate that Facebook is a platform where they should present carefully staged or "tidy, polished, and socially acceptable" versions of themselves. The content they post on Facebook is more about milestones or key events than everyday occurrences. Since the audience on Facebook is massive, they only post content that is safe to be disseminated widely.
- In Argentina, what young people aged 18-29 share depends on what social media platform they are on. For example, Instagram is all about stylized presentation, while Snapchat is all about spontaneity and playfulness.
- Family and friends appear to be the people users of Instagram Stories in Brazil share the most with on social media. There appears to be a desire for greater authenticity in communicating with family and friends among users of Instagram Stories in Brazil who belong to ages 13-55. Fifty-seven percent of said users find Instagram Stories helpful in achieving this goal.
- Young adults in Latin America have come of age in an era where opportunities and resources abound and middle class families outnumber the poor. Eighty-four percent of them trust that the road to their professional goals will be much easier than that of their parents.
- Latin Americans aged 15-24 have a poverty rate of around 32.5% and an extreme poverty rate of around 10.1%.
- Around 93.7% of Latin Americans aged 15-19 have full primary education, while around 59.5% of Latin Americans aged 20-24 have full secondary education.
- Most Latin American teens likely live in urban areas given that Latin America is the most urbanized among the various regions and 80% of the region's population reside in urban areas.
We first looked for surveys involving Facebook Stories and Stories in general. We checked if there were surveys conducted on Latin American teens, youth, young adults, adolescents, or Gen Zers, all the while taking into account the countries and territories that are considered part of Latin America. All we found, however, were a couple of surveys conducted by Ipsos for Facebook IQ. Facebook IQ, Facebook Business's market research arm, has released articles discussing the results of these surveys. While Latin American teens or young adults were not the focus of these surveys, they were among the survey respondents. The survey conducted in August 2018 involved 3,144 individuals aged 13-54 from Brazil and Mexico, while the survey conducted in October 2017 involved 2,400 individuals aged 13-55 from Brazil. Facebook IQ also has an Insights to Go page where insights can be filtered by region and user group.
To find details more particular to the specified demographic group, we shifted our focus to the general psychographic profile of Latin American teens, youth, young adults, adolescents, or Gen Zers with respect to social media usage. We conducted a press search and scoured databases of academic literature as well. This second strategy led us to an article published by Viacom Global Insights and a study published in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, both of which offer a few insights into the behavior of Latin American teens on social media.
We researched the lifestyle of teens in the region separately, as it is a different topic. We looked into studies depicting the social status of Latin Americans. In this regard, we found studies on the region's youth and social panorama useful. To gain additional understanding of the other aspects of the teens' lifestyle, we consulted Americas Quarterly's article on Latin American teens. Overall, we were unable to find information specific to Latin American teens or young adults aged 13-23 who use or are likely to use Facebook Stories, so we presented what is publicly available about these teens' interests, social media habits, and lifestyle. We assume these findings extend to teens who use or are likely to use Facebook Stories.