Report / industry research
How to Laugh (and Win) with Next Gen
A six-country survey of daily social-app users aged 13-28 examines humor as social language, the mechanics of next-gen jokes, when brands should join a bit, and how Snapchat turns humor into private sharing.
Publication details
Author and publication date
- Published
Research context
Population and methodology
- Population Next Gen daily social-app users, spanning younger Gen Z and older Gen Alpha; ages 13-28; United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, and India.
- Methodology 15-minute online quantitative survey of daily social platform users, with a Snapchat daily-user oversample, plus review of more than 6,000 jokes, memes, and panel submissions.
- Fieldwork Survey of 6,028 daily social-app users aged 13-28, reported August 2026; exact interview dates are not published in the public report.
- Sample size 6,028 daily social-app users, including 3,593 daily Snapchatters; about 1,000 per country
How to use this source
Evidence strength
Limitations Next Gen is 13-28, not this Lab’s full 0-16 Gen Alpha definition. Results describe daily social-app users in six countries. Snap commissioned the work, so Snapchat-specific findings are first-party context rather than an independent ranking of every platform.
Trace the claim
Extracted evidence
82% of Next Gen daily social-app users agreed that humor is how their generation talks about serious things, and 85% said humor helps them say things they would not normally say directly.
Locator Chapter 1 headline findings on humor as emotional infrastructure, pages covering the 6,028-person Next Gen sample.
Scope Next Gen daily social-app users, spanning younger Gen Z and older Gen Alpha; 13-28; United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, and India; Survey of 6,028 daily social-app users aged 13-28, reported August 2026; exact interview dates are not published in the public report..
Limitations Next Gen is 13-28, not this Lab’s full 0-16 Gen Alpha definition. Results describe daily social-app users in six countries. Snap commissioned the work, so Snapchat-specific findings are first-party context rather than an independent ranking of every platform.
Three in four Next Gen daily social-app users said brands online often feel like older people trying to joke with them.
Locator Chapter 1 section on the brand challenge, three-in-four finding from the 6,028-person sample.
Scope Next Gen daily social-app users, spanning younger Gen Z and older Gen Alpha; 13-28; United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, and India; Survey of 6,028 daily social-app users aged 13-28, reported August 2026; exact interview dates are not published in the public report..
Limitations Next Gen is 13-28, not this Lab’s full 0-16 Gen Alpha definition. Results describe daily social-app users in six countries. Snap commissioned the work, so Snapchat-specific findings are first-party context rather than an independent ranking of every platform.
Humor that feels completely random was the #1 type Next Gen enjoys, and 92% agreed the best jokes seem random but have logic behind them; 88% said humor gets funnier the more it builds or continues.
Locator Chapter 2 sections titled Random Has Rules and Escalate Or Die, 6,028-person Next Gen sample.
Scope Next Gen daily social-app users, spanning younger Gen Z and older Gen Alpha; 13-28; United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, and India; Survey of 6,028 daily social-app users aged 13-28, reported August 2026; exact interview dates are not published in the public report..
Limitations Next Gen is 13-28, not this Lab’s full 0-16 Gen Alpha definition. Results describe daily social-app users in six countries. Snap commissioned the work, so Snapchat-specific findings are first-party context rather than an independent ranking of every platform.
On Snapchat, jokes were 5.7 times more likely to be shared than discovered, 64% of Next Gen said the funniest memories happen in private or group chats, and 79% of Next Gen Snapchatters share memes, jokes, or funny videos with best friends on the app.
Locator Chapter 4 sections on turning laughs into Snaps, sharing-versus-discovery headline and private-chat finding.
Scope Next Gen daily social-app users, spanning younger Gen Z and older Gen Alpha; 13-28; United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, and India; Survey of 6,028 daily social-app users aged 13-28, reported August 2026; exact interview dates are not published in the public report..
Limitations Next Gen is 13-28, not this Lab’s full 0-16 Gen Alpha definition. Results describe daily social-app users in six countries. Snap commissioned the work, so Snapchat-specific findings are first-party context rather than an independent ranking of every platform.
Connected conclusions
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