Parlez vous Tik Tok? How social media is driving conflict and misunderstanding in the workplace

The way people communicate on social media is reshaping how they connect and collaborate with each other in the workplace, according to research from The Adaptavist Group. The research suggests that platforms like TikTok and Instagram are directly influencing how 83 percent of people communicate professionally, fuelling conflict and misunderstanding amongst an increasingly intergenerational workforce. The findings, outlined in The Adaptavist Group’s Workplace Communication Atlas, were based on a survey of 1,000 UK knowledge workers conducted by Attest.

The study also uncovered that younger generations – Gen Z and Millennials – were far more likely to be influenced by social media trends than the older generation (50+ year olds). More than half (54 percent) of over-50s in the workplace said that social media trends have no, or very little, impact at all on their use of language, compared to just over a third of Gen Z (36 percent) and 39 percent of Millennials. This highlights how personal usage of digital platforms is shaping communication styles differently across age groups, accelerating the adoption of new phrases or migrating meaning amongst younger generations.

Unsurprisingly, social media influence closely mirrors social media presence. For example, 22 percent of over-50s say they’re not on social media at all, compared to just 3 percent of Gen Z and 7 percent of Millennials. Even amongst users, platform preferences vary widely by generation: older users gravitate towards Facebook (39 percent), Millennials favour Instagram (32 percent), and Gen Z overwhelmingly prefer TikTok (42 percent). Overall, just one in 10 (11 percent) of all respondents still use X (formerly known as Twitter) or similar (such as BlueSky or Threads). As with any ecosystem, each of these platforms comes with language trends, idiosyncracies, and interaction styles that are unique to its space, driving further differences even amongst those who have the shared behaviour of using a social media platform.

Younger generations are also far more likely to use social media platforms and messaging apps for workplace communication. Messaging apps like WhatsApp are used regularly by 44 percent of Gen Z and 42 percent of Millennials, versus only 28 percent of Boomers. Nearly a third of Gen Z (29 percent) and Millennials (23 percent) consider social media, such as LinkedIn messaging, a go-to method for communicating, compared to just 11 percent of over-50s.

As workers increasingly bring their personal digital habits into the workplace, the risk of miscommunication and misunderstanding can grow. However, Adaptavist’s 2024 Digital Etiquette: Mind The Generational Gap Report found that 90 percent of global workers believe that the right tools can help close the intergenerational gap, indicating how properly implemented tools can improve communication between different cohorts.

Social media is also influencing how workers use emojis, interpret punctuation to convey tone, and set their expectations around response times. These differing viewpoints are further driving a communication divide across workplaces in the UK. When it comes to emoji use, for example, over-50s are more likely to interpret emoji use as ‘inappropriate’, or even ‘lazy’ or ‘rude’. On the other hand, 25 percent of Gen Z and 19 percent of Millennials fully embrace emoji culture and are more likely to interpret its use as ‘friendly’.

Emoji use and social media-driven communication trends are also creating misjudgments at work. Almost one in three (29 percent) workers across all generations have encountered a misunderstanding at work related to emoji usage, and nearly half (46 percent) of all respondents cited ‘misinterpreting tone or phrasing’ as their biggest communication challenge in general, in the workplace.

46 percent of respondents also cited ‘differing response time expectations’ as their biggest communication challenge in the workplace. Over-50s tended to be slightly more patient: 72 percent said they would expect a response by the end of the day, compared to 77 percent of Gen Z and 74 percent of Millennials. A notable share of younger workers expect near-instant replies – 6 percent of Millennials and 5 percent of Gen Z – whereas half (2.6 percent) of over-50s said the same.

This shift in expectations may reflect broader digital behaviours: the rise of real-time social media updates, instant messaging, and 24/7 news cycles has conditioned younger generations to anticipate faster responses in all areas of communication, including the workplace.

According to the poll, almost one in 10 Gen Zers (9 percent) and 8 percent of Millennials use asynchronous video recordings, such as Atlassian’s Loom, as a primary method of communication. These types of communication platforms allow users to send and view videos and screen records, such as tutorials and walkthroughs, in their own time. These are notably high figures for a newer platform, potentially signalling the early stages of an emerging trend.