Transformasi Perilaku Pencarian Informasi Digital pada Generasi Z: Analisis Persepsi Kemanfaatan, Kemudahan, dan Kepercayaan terhadap Penggunaan TikTok dan Instagram sebagai Social Search Engine

Abstract

The rapid growth of social media has transformed information-searching behavior, particularly among Generation Z, who increasingly use TikTok and Instagram as social search engines. This study aims to analyze Generation Z's perceptions of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, trust, and user decision regarding the use of TikTok and Instagram as social search engines. A quantitative descriptive survey approach was employed by distributing a five-point Likert-scale questionnaire to 106 Generation Z respondents who had used the search features on TikTok or Instagram. Descriptive analysis revealed that perceived usefulness achieved the highest mean score (4.24), followed by user decision (4.11), perceived ease of use (4.06), and trust (4.04). These findings indicate that respondents have positive perceptions of using TikTok and Instagram to search for visual information, particularly related to culinary, tourism, products, entertainment, and lifestyle. The findings provide insights into the changing information-searching behavior of Generation Z and may serve as input for social media platform developers to design search systems that are visually engaging, easy to use, and supportive of users' information validation processes.