As social media platforms become more crowded and competition intensifies, the biggest gains are showing up in places many marketers don’t expect, and often through formats that run counter to conventional wisdom.

At EMARKETER’s Creator Economy virtual summit, Metricool shared a snapshot of how brands and creators actually performed across major platforms, based on analysis of over a million accounts across 10 social media platforms and over 39 million posts.

Here are three stats that stood out.

1. Facebook reach grows by over 50%

In a year dominated by talk of TikTok and Instagram saturation, Facebook quietly delivered one of the biggest reach gains across major platforms, with average reach growing by 51%, impressions growing by 57%, and interactions by 56% YoY.

“I think that we can all agree that for a platform like Facebook, this might be surprising to see,” said Anniston Ward, US PR and education manager at Metricool.

That growth comes as competition intensifies elsewhere. As Ward noted, platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn are all seeing “so much content saturation and competition,” making Facebook an increasingly reliable reach play for some brands.

2. Carousels beat video on LinkedIn, by a lot

Despite years of advice that video would dominate LinkedIn’s algorithm, Metricool’s data showed the opposite in 2025.

“We were told that video content, you should be sharing it on LinkedIn, it’s gonna be prioritized in algorithms,” Ward said. “But when we looked at the content, it was actually the reverse content, like polls and carousels stood out.”

Carousels and polls drove impressions up by over 158% YoY and generated 247% more interactions than the average post. Meaning: Video is not mandatory everywhere, especially if storytelling formats like carousels already work for your brand.

3. YouTube views surged 76% YoY as short- and long-form converged

While TikTok often gets positioned as the default video platform, YouTube emerged as one of the biggest winners in 2025.

“YouTube is really proving itself as this kind of all around go-to video network for both long-form and short-form,” Ward said.

That blend is paying off. Interactions on YouTube rose 11% YoY, and the platform is increasingly serving as both a discovery engine and an engagement hub, particularly for creators and podcasters extending the life of long-form content.

Watch the full session

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