In the months and years to come, Zoomers will not just be a force to reckon with in the labor arena and society in general but they will also become the largest consumers of products and services. For forward-thinking business leaders like the CEO of Soul App, Zhang Lu, this is reason enough to understand how this cohort thinks, feels, and behaves.
Fortunately for Soul Zhang Lu, the data needed to analyze and pinpoint these predilections is readily available given the social platform’s majority Gen Z user base. The results of Soul’s most recent endeavor to study the leanings of Gen Z came in the form of the 2025 Gen Z Social Trend Report.
Data was collected not just through more than 11,000 survey participants but also through platform content. Moreover, the analysis saw the researchers of Soul Zhang Lu and Center for Communication and State Governance Research of Fudan University working together to make sense of Gen Z’s affinities.
The report offered insights into everything from the way Zoomers buy to their relationship with others and themselves. The observations made about various aspects of Gen Z’s social life and their take on relationships were the real eye-openers simply because of how different they were as compared to the views held by previous generations.
A classic example of this was Gen Z’s idea of love and the desire for a partner. Like their predecessors, Zoomers also want to find the man/woman of their dreams yet ingrained in this overall desire is a glaring paradox. This was made evident by the fact that while 3.59 million people spoke about “romantic love” on Soul and the hashtag #DatingForMarriage garnered 3.2 billion views, discussions about singlehood were just as popular with almost 9 billion views.
Users who were happy with their single status generally attributed their choice to their desire to hold on to their freedom and to steer clear of emotional disappointments. Of course, many also pinned their single status on their inability to find a suitable partner.
That said women and men had different reasons for choosing the “single” life. Soul Zhang Lu’s team found that for women, the primary reason for remaining single was their quest for personal growth. In contrast, men cited financial instability and past failed relationships as their causes for choosing to be single.
Those who wanted to be in a relationship but had not managed to find themselves a partner as yet blamed mismatched values, communication barriers, and a small social circle for being unlucky in love.
But, the survey conducted by Soul Zhang Lu’s team was not just about romantic relationships. The study found that Gen Z also held unique notions when it came to companionship and friendship. Yes, youngsters today are in search of company but they are wary of overbearing connections.
Instead, they are more inclined towards friends who are there when needed but who are not a smothering presence that has to be tended to all the time. This unique preference of Gen Z was highlighted by the popularity of the keyword “Gu Liao” or “guaranteed chat partner”, which attracted 650,000 users on Soul in 2024.
Many youngsters who participated in Soul Zhang Lu’s study admitted to being more comfortable discussing emotional topics with their “Gu Liao” than with romantic partners/spouses. In fact, such was their comfort level with their guaranteed chat friends that they felt at home discussing everything from break-up woes to home and work-life worries and even the small and great joys of life with them.
In light of this observation, Gen Z comes across as a cohort that is big on being heard. But, that isn’t always the case. Another interesting finding of Soul Zhang Lu’s researchers was that Zoomers don’t always need words to connect, the tranquility of ambient sounds, and the feeling that someone is out there is also enough to create a connection.
In fact, it is this need for quiet connections that got the hashtag #SilentConnectLive almost 800 million views on the social networking platform. This trend of silent-yet-live chat is all about melting solitude with silence instead of actual words.
Soul Zhang Lu’s team also observed that Zoomers are particularly keen on being mindful of themselves. For instance, in 2024, “outdoor sports” was a popular topic of conversation on Soul. Hashtags such as #sportsandfitness, #today’scyclingcheck-in, and #let’splaytennis witnessed significant year-over-year growth, and understandably so.
For a Zoomer, his/her body represents the smallest unit of certainty, an aspect of life that they have complete control over. So, of course, they are keen on keeping themselves in good shape. Also, for many their interest in novel sports serves as a starting point to forge connections and even friendships.
Soul Zhang Lu’s team found that jogging, hiking, and fitness were particularly popular among youngsters in new first-tier cities. The thing to notice here is that all of these offer ample scope to forge bonds based on mutual interests.
Having said that, the researchers working on this report for Soul Zhang Lu also observed that physical fitness was not the only thing that ranked high on the list of priorities for Gen Z. Mental well-being was just as important and they have their therapeutic tricks to keep the heart and the mind happy.
For example, products that have emotional value are very popular among Gen Z. So, Zoomers were often found reaching for collectibles like anime and manga merchandise and even soft toys to relive the simple joys associated with childhood.
Also, joyful experiences like travel, music festivals, and gaming interactions were a hit among this demographic. For Gen Z, the idea is simple – To indulge in activities and purchases for the sole purpose of experiencing happiness.
In a nutshell, Soul Zhang Lu’s researchers found that Zoomers have very distinct ideas about what they want in life and they are not willing to compromise in terms of what they desire just to suit society’s standards and notions. In fact, they have no qualms about investing their resources, be it time or money, to get what they believe is the best for them.
