Journal of African Development

Aim:The main purpose of this paper is to examine the use of social media on the leading social media platforms and to investigate the role of age in the choice of media and patterns of interaction. Some of the main factors that contribute to user engagement that the study aims to determine include the quality of the content, personalization, and interactivity..

Methodology:The study uses quantitative approach with the use of primary data gathered by means of a structured questionnaire. There were 105 valid responses of five age groups. To test the relationships in demographic variables and preferences to the platform, SPSS and Excel were used to perform statistical analysis, including descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and chi-square test.

Results:The results have shown that there is significant correlation between age and preference of social media platform (p < 0.05). Instagram was the most popular with the younger users (1625 years old) and YouTube was more popular among users between 2135 years. Facebook was also shown to have relatively less preference in most groups. Also, the quality of the content, personalization, and interactivity were also found to be strongly positively related to user engagement.

Implications:The paper offers valuable advice to marketers, content creators, and managers of digital platforms because of the need to focus on platform strategies. The ability to adjust the content according to demographic factors and increase interaction should help to boost the user engagement and retention rates.

Originality/Value:The study is relevant to the current body of literature in that it combines the demographic analysis with platform-specific elements of engagement to provide a more in-depth insight into the role of age in social media behavior and engagement patterns