Welcome back, social media managers! We’re excited to share the latest social media updates and insights from our recent event at The Lighthouse, spearheaded by the esteemed Luan Wise. As always, our aim is to keep you up-to-date with the ever-changing world of social media, empowering you to make informed decisions and excel in your roles. From data trends to exciting feature updates, let’s dive into the July 2023 edition.
You can watch the session, here:
Data
All the data presented in this blog post is sourced from Data Reportal, a reputable provider of very recent and accurate information, covering social media trends up until the end of June 2023. To access the full data report, click here.
Overview of Social Media Use
The world of social media continues to expand, with over 60% of the global population now using social media based on monthly active users. This upward trend doesn’t show signs of slowing down.
On average, people are spending 2 hours and 26 minutes per day on social media platforms. Plus, it is interesting to note that the average number of platforms used per month is around 6.7, indicating that users are active across multiple channels.
Daily Time Spent with Media
While social media has a prominent presence in our lives, it’s essential to remember that it’s not the only medium we interact with.
The average time spent using the internet as a whole is 6 hours and 40 minutes per day. Additionally, people spend an average of 3 hours and 21 minutes watching TV and dedicating 55 minutes daily to podcasts. See below for more stats.
Use of Social Media as a Source of News
Beyond being a platform for entertainment and brand discovery, social media is a vital channel for accessing news.
Among 18-24-year-olds and 25-34-year-olds, 60% of both age groups use social media to access news, emphasising social media’s role as an essential news source amongst the younger demographics.
Social Platforms Used to Access Digital News
As social media gains popularity as a news source, specific platforms are emerging as primary channels for digital news consumption. For comparison, here are the percentage of worldwide survey respondents who say that they use each platform to access news content:
– Facebook: 41%
– YouTube: 30%
– Instagram: 18%
– Twitter: 12% (surprisingly lower than expected)
– LinkedIn: 4%
Main Channels for Online Brand Research
Younger age groups are increasingly utilising social media networks for brand research, surpassing the reliance on search engines:
– 16-24-year-olds: Social networks are used 49.8% of the time for brand research, compared with 44.8% for search engines
– 35-44-year-olds: Social media networks are used 45.3% of the time for brand research, compared with 45.3% for search engines
Feature Updates
Threads – Meta’s New Platform
Meta has launched “Threads,” a new social network accessible through your Instagram account with just one click. Threads allows you to seamlessly transition your photos and bios from Instagram and automatically follow everyone you are already connected with on the parent platform.
Reaching an impressive 100 million members in record time, Threads shows great potential. While user time has decreased from 21 minutes to 6 minutes per day, this is a common trend for novel platforms.
For those verified on Meta, your verification will carry over to Threads. If you’re curious about using this exciting new platform, follow Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) for updates and insights.
In a recent ‘Thread’, Adam Mosseri shared his insight on those speculating that Meta are trying to replace Twitter with this new platform.
Facebook is continuing to prioritise video content and reels with the updated discovery and editing tools for video. The platform has also renamed the Watch tab to simply “Video,” signalling its emphasis on this engaging format.
Instagram is making it easier for creators to produce reels with new templates, simplifying the content creation process. Additionally, the “Subscriptions” feature, previously available in the US, is now expanding to the UK and other countries. This offers creators opportunities to provide exclusive content to their paid subscribers.
Twitter’s Transformation to ‘X’
In a surprising move, Twitter has rebranded as “X” to reflect its evolution into an all-encompassing platform. The new CEO, Linda Yaccarino, shared her excitement in a recent tweet.
The term “tweet” still remains, but we’re curious about future replacements for this iconic word.
As part of reducing spam, non-Twitter Blue users will face restrictions on the number of DMs they can send. Twitter now also offers DM filtering, enabling users to control who can message them. This should be a reminder to regularly review your privacy settings to stay informed about platform changes.
A great feature that Twitter has had for a while is private and public lists, making it easier to manage and follow specific content. However, they have now introduced the ability to search for public lists, which enhances discovery and opens new possibilities for users and social media managers alike.
LinkedIn’s algorithm updates encourage the promotion of non-professional content and posts that provide expert knowledge and advice, based on post engagements. The platform also offers the option to allow DMs to company pages, fostering better communication and engagement.
TikTok
TikTok’s Ads Library is now available for EU campaigns, providing valuable insights for advertisers. The platform has also introduced a new text post feature, encouraging users to share textual content like lyrics, recipes, and more, perhaps in response to the emergence of Threads.
Stay Informed, Stay Ahead
As social media managers, staying informed about the latest trends and feature updates is crucial for your success. The Lighthouse Social continues to be your beacon of knowledge, guiding you through the dynamic landscape of social media.
Mark your calendars for upcoming events and updates:
Upcoming dates:
24th August Social Media Updates
28th September The Lighthouse Social Summit
26th October Social Media Updates
30th November Social Media Updates
Our question of the day is: What are you more intrigued with- The new platform ‘Threads’ or Twitter’s rebrand? Let us know!
Tinisha Osu
Tinisha Osu is a Marketing Executive with two degrees in Psychology. She is the first-author of a published psychology paper and is beginning her career in marketing through blog-writing, creating social media content and running marketing campaigns.