Social media trends: The highlight reel

Foreword

The world of social media moves faster than the algorithms behind it. Brands have the lofty challenge of keeping on top of the latest platforms and striking a chord with audiences on them. It’s tough out there, we get it. But we’re here to shed light on the most important trends in this space - with a little extra support from our friends at Reddit, Snapchat, and Once upon a time.

Our job is to help humans everywhere understand each other and the habits of social media users on a deeper level. This report doesn’t just document platform usage figures. It maps out changes in why people use social networks, explores their cultural influence, and looks at how content expectations vary from one platform to the next. 

Ready to supercharge your socials? Let’s scroll.

Social media’s matured and is going steady. Unless there’s another life-altering event like a global pandemic, or unusually tough regulation is introduced in key markets, consumers’ overall time spent on social platforms probably won’t fluctuate much going forward.

Sure, we might see new records among different groups: retired baby boomers’ social media usage has continued to climb since the pandemic, a trend we’ve written about in detail before. And people concerned about the effects of excessive scrolling may see slight drops from time to time. But these audience-level shifts probably won’t impact the global trend, which is pretty stable. That’s why we’ve got our eye on who’s using each platform and how they’re using it, which is moving much quicker.

As social media’s matured, so has its user base. Brands need to regularly re-evaluate each of the social networks they advertise on and consider whether it’s still the best way to reach their target audience. Unlike other major platforms, the average age of Snapchat’s users has stayed consistent over time, which reminds us that each app moves in a different direction, and at its own speed. Marketers should always avoid making assumptions where they can and instead aim to zoom in on specific trends.

Social is transforming how people consume news

Social platforms are evolving - not just their user bases, but also how people see and use them. For starters, less traditional apps like Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok are increasingly being used for social media’s original purpose: messaging friends and family. But the act of messaging has become more varied and complex - users might emoji-react to a friend’s story in their direct messages or speak to a creator through features like Instagram broadcast channels. Brands may want to focus on creating content suited to intimate sharing among smaller groups.

Even more significant than the changing nature of sharing is the rise of news consumption on video-based apps and tools. As many people say they’ve watched or listened to political content on social media in the last month as read it (40%). There’s even been an 11% increase in Gen Alpha using social media to keep up with the news in just the last year.

As the media struggles to maintain consumer trust, people are looking elsewhere for diverse voices. More social media users now say they follow news influencers than fashion ones, proving that influencer marketing isn’t just about selling products anymore. Publishers could work alongside these individuals to produce snackable content in their efforts to drive engagement and improve people’s relationships with the media.

All about audio

Another emerging trend that’s on our radar is audio - that’s everything from audio messaging to social media podcasts.

It’s early days but brands are starting to explore this space, and our data shows why. Various industries could leverage audio messaging to improve their customer service and stand out from the crowd via personalized messages - whether that’s food delivery updates, order confirmations, or insights into spending habits. One brand that’s made moves in this space is Domino’s Pizza, which uses an AI-powered voice assistant to process orders and give customers status updates.

Video podcasting is taking off in certain spaces too. With around 3 in 10 YouTubers saying they listen to a podcast online weekly, this is yet another audio-based option for creators, publishers, and marketers to consider. Audio is definitely ripe for experimentation and innovative brands will lead the way by demonstrating how it can be used to drive engagement. At the very least, others should listen out for their results.

We mentioned that each platform’s user base has changed over time, now let’s look at things from a generational standpoint.

Our data shows that Facebook is still the global leader for monthly engagement among millennials, Gen X, and baby boomers. It even ranks in Gen Z’s top three, dispelling the myth that younger groups are ditching their accounts.  

Gen Z do have a unique social media footprint, though. Instagram is both their most-used app and the one they’re most likely to say they’ve mentioned during recent in-person conversations, which leads us nicely to our next point.

Apps that get people talking IRL

Reach and cultural power are different, and companies should consider which one they’re prioritizing when choosing their mix of socials. One increases the chances of a brand's products and messages being seen, while the other improves the chances of them being talked about by consumers. 

Word-of-mouth recommendations are still one of the top drivers of brand and product discovery, on par with ads seen on social media. If brands share compelling stories on social platforms that spark conversation, they could gain more (and free) exposure. 

All of our top platforms have both reach and cultural power to varying degrees, though some score relatively better for the latter. Take TikTok for example; while it’s eighth on the list of most-used platforms, it comes third for perceived cultural power.

This is where trends are being created. For many brands, staying on top of what’s happening on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, and contributing or reacting to relevant content, will help get the word out. 

Getting the vibe right on each platform

People might use several apps every day, even simultaneously, and consume similar video and text content on each of them. But we can’t forget - each platform has its own unique culture, vibe, and audience expectations. As a brand, understanding these nuances and tailoring your content to suit each space is key to knocking your social media strategy out of the park.

There’s nothing small about the influence short-form video has had on the global media landscape. While TikTok’s only eight years old, it competes in the same league as Netflix and YouTube when it comes to monthly engagement, and has truly changed the nature of social media. 

Don't count out long-form

For sports companies in particular, short-form video is a great way to draw in new and unexpected fans, but they should still service existing ones. NBC Sports offers both condensed and extended highlights of its Premier League coverage on its YouTube channel, making its different categories of followers happy in the process. 

Consumers mainly watch short-form video to fill up spare time and keep up-to-date with trends, but many will turn to longer clips when they’re looking for more insight and nuance. Even short clip watchers are fairly likely to agree that the quality of short-form content is generally lower than that of long-form content (38% do, which is greater than the number who disagree with this statement). 

Consumers who believe this stand out for having watched fitness classes, sports matches, and commentary in the last week. Fitness classes are often streamed via a smart TV or casted onto a larger screen, allowing for better workouts. And dedicated fans generally don’t just want the best bits of a match, but a deeper breakdown and analysis. 

On the whole, the explosion of short-form video isn’t happening at the expense of long-form video; it’s happening alongside it. TikTok’s testing 30-minute uploads, which is entering TV episode territory, and Reels now accommodates videos up to 15 minutes. So, if you’re a brand that prides itself on quality TV-like content, you’re hardly out of luck. 

Search engines may be the first term that comes to mind when thinking about product discovery, but depending on your audience, maybe it shouldn’t be. Finding new ideas or inspiration has become a more important reason for using the internet, a trend that’s largely linked to social media. And Gen Z especially like the customized results they get on social platforms too.

Today, more consumers discover products via social media ads, updates on a brand’s social pages, or recommendations in this space than on search engines. When combined, these methods have a lot of influence. 

Not only that, but many scrollers actively turn to apps like Instagram to research products, and we’ve seen jumps in the number of TikTok and Snapchat users saying they use each app to do this, as well as a rise in people messaging friends on them. This means people can discover, research, forward on, and purchase all in one place. In fact, over 50% of consumers who’ve bought an item on TikTok Shop say they purchased from a brand or seller they discovered using the feature.

Companies should aim to create visually engaging content that inspires their target audience to explore, and those in certain sectors stand to benefit from social media’s increasingly sophisticated ecommerce tools.

In the mood(board) for inspo

We mentioned that Gen Z are driving the shift toward inspo-driven searching on social media, and mood boards are a means of collecting all that inspiration in one place. 47% of Pinners say they use the app for style inspiration, almost as many for home décor/design ideas, and 18% for wedding/event inspo.

Gen Z stands out for wanting brands to be trendy/cool, and mood boards are an ideal place to monitor what they’re interested in. That’s because they allow for natural and spontaneous creative ideas, something which is often missed in the current influencer marketing landscape. 

Brands have a variety of opportunities with mood boards and can create products to match trending “vibes.” After noticing that Pinterest users were pinning pictures of David and Victoria Beckham from the 1990s in parachute pants, Jaded London released some of their own, and have since sold over 200,000 pairs. 

Brands can also collaborate with mood boards on exclusive drops, exactly what hidden.ny and JJJJound have done successfully in the past. These boards ultimately give Gen Z consumers what they want - exclusivity, personalization, and a community to belong to. 

Gen Alpha: The next screen teens

Not everything’s about Gen Z, though. Gen Alpha are growing up, and with this, comes more agency. In the last year, we’ve spotted increases in the number of teens who choose their own clothes, video games, and food. 

More importantly, they’re getting a sense of which brands and products they like on social media; there’s been an 11% year-on-year rise in the number of teens who say finding things to buy is one of their main reasons for using it. 

Brands would be wise to start speaking to and building early bonds with Gen Alpha, but do so in a mindful way. Thanks to social media, “Sephora kids” have been inspired to get into skincare earlier, and we’ve seen a rise in younger groups buying anti-ageing serums or creams designed for older consumers. This trend has even pushed a Swedish pharmacy chain to start ID'ing its skincare buyers.

In this case, companies can work with relatable public voices to educate their Gen Alpha audience or create product options that are suitable for them.

The influencer effect

A recent HubSpot survey revealed that 50% of marketers who collaborate with influencers plan to boost their investments in 2024. But others may be wondering if the juice is worth the squeeze. While there was a small climb in the number of social media users saying they follow influencers between 2020-21 (+6%), it’s stayed pretty consistent since then, a sign that growth isn’t increasing at the rate of marketer investments. 

That said, some markets are still seeing bigger and more recent jumps in influencer engagement. In the past year, the proportion of social media users following influencers in countries like the US, Ireland, and South Korea has hit or passed the 25% mark, which is an impressive milestone. Also, while younger generations are the most likely to follow influencers, the number of baby boomers who do is growing faster - climbing by an impressive 17% since Q4 2022. 

The important thing is that influencer followers are an audience with a lot of purchase intent. They’re 45% more likely to say they use social networks to find products to buy than the average social media user, and 24% more likely to have bought a product or service online in the last week. 

With more social media touchpoints and platforms to choose from than in the past, and an enormous creator economy, brands can be very tactical in their decision-making. Using data, they can identify high potential markets with engaged influencer followers, keep an eye on ROI, and zero in on their audience’s influencer preferences. 

Clout alone doesn't convince consumers to buy

So how powerful is influencer marketing, really? Globally, 13% of consumers say that influencer recommendations would most increase their likelihood of buying a product online, compared to 40% for discounts. This reminds us that influencer marketing should generally be a supplement to, rather than the bulk of a brand’s advertising strategy, and that it should be approached strategically. 

Price/value is the top motivation for influencer-driven purchases, which is no surprise given the current economy. Yet, 84% of those who buy from influencers say they avoid using their links at least sometimes and prefer visiting official websites. Offering a discount code personalized to the influencer can help incentivize direct purchases, and also help brands track ROI on their investments.

Next, an influencer’s credibility matters a lot. People care about whether an influencer specializes in their field, which is one of the reasons why the micro influencer vs celebrity debate gets so much attention. 

With more Gen Z identifying as influencers/creators than healthcare workers, the talent pool is huge and who you go with will depend on your budget, what you sell, and whether you have short or long-term goals. Still, brands should create an overall “scorecard” for each influencer they’re considering, which accounts for things like engagement metrics and the consistency of their messaging, not just their follower count.

This is especially important in certain industries. Despite being low investment purchases, an influencer’s trustworthiness matters more to those who buy haircare, skincare, and makeup. Among all influencer-driven buyers, trustworthiness is the third most-considered factor, behind value for money and brand reputation. Among beauty buyers, it ranks ahead of brand reputation.

In the beauty industry, accessibility, personalization, and inclusivity are in the limelight. Products are increasingly being made with specific skin tones, conditions, and hair types in mind. And with many marginalized groups already engaging relatively more with influencers, and responding less to traditional ads than average, this is a promising channel for companies focused on brand-building.

Finally, product demos are also a big part of why consumers trust recommendations: as many people are motivated to buy from influencers because they’ve seen them use a product because of their expertise. This shows that how influencers market items matters as much as their online clout. Brands should generally aim to give influencers creative freedom, as they know their audience best, but a few data-driven guidelines never hurt anyone.