Many social movements (such as #‘Black Lives Matter’ Movement, #MeToo Movement and #EndAcidSale Movement) have gained momentum through social media, but there is a research gap in understanding Generation Z’s individuals participation and engagement in these social movements and also the awareness they have regarding social issues through social media. This study aims to understand how social media engagement affects Gen Z’s understanding of social issues and how the perceptions of Gen Z regarding social issues is influenced by it. It is crucial to look into Gen Z’s engagement in these social movements and also the awareness they get regarding social issues through social media. Algorithms tend to dictate the content that reaches the users; therefore, we want to analyse whether social media algorithms is effective in ensuring Gen Z social media users get an understanding of different viewpoints regarding the social issue. Understanding Gen Z’s engagement in social activism through social media requires an in depth analysis on the factors that motivate them to do so. These factors can include their belief that it would lead to a systematic change, a sense of community they get when they engage with others on social media about social issues, pressure from their social circle to engage with social media content related to social issues and the desire to be seen as socially conscious by their peers. This study also aims to find out whether this has an effect on their mental health. The findings of the study show that social media content engagement moderates the relationship between social issue awareness and both real-world activism and mental health among Gen Z. Increased social issue awareness and social media content engagement lead to higher activism, but excessive engagement is found to negatively impact mental health among Gen Z. Results from the study indicates that respondents believe in the effectiveness of social media activism but also report feeling stressed, anxious, and overwhelmed by social issue-related content.