Facebook has a cyber mercenary problem: Meta blocks 1,500 Facebook and Instagram accounts that targeted over 50,000 users—potentially the tip of a wider surveillance iceberg and another smear on Facebook’s reputation.

Around the world, Facebook is the most popular social app for livestream purchases. Among internet users who had bought a product via a social media livestream, 57.8% did so on the blue app. Meanwhile, 45.8% have made a livestream purchase on Instagram, and just 15.8% have on TikTok.

User-generated short videos are all over the internet, from TikTok to Instagram Reels to Triller, and the marketing opportunities are exploding. Here’s how the main venues compare across usage, paid advertising, organic and influencer marketing, and commerce.

US social network user growth has slowed to a crawl, and that means the social platforms will compete fiercely for users and engagement. Marketers should optimize their spending to take advantage of shifting consumer behaviors.

US TikTok users will spend more time with the social media platform this year than YouTube users will spend on YouTube. This difference will be just about a fraction of a minute but will expand in years to come.

TikTok is now the third-largest worldwide social network, according to our inaugural forecast. It will have 60% more users than Snapchat and twice as many as Twitter this year.

This year, TikTok will surpass YouTube in terms of time spent by their respective adult users in the US. The short-video app will see 45.8 minutes per day from its average adult user, edging out YouTube, at 45.6 minutes.

The metaverse may be far away, but video is here and now on social media—and consumer usage patterns are changing fast.

TikTok is the fastest-growing social platform amid slow overall social network user gains in the UK. Facebook remains the dominant force, but as its user base ages, its grip will begin to slip.

The app is now the third-largest social network in the US (and worldwide), with 94.1 million US monthly users in 2022 and 813.7 million worldwide. We expect US adult TikTok users to spend close to 46 minutes on the platform per day this year, on par with YouTube and well ahead of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. Lanes are widening for other competitors.

Today, Cocokind’s products are carried at Ulta, Target, and Whole Foods, and the brand’s Instagram community is 310,000 people strong. Cocokind uses its community directly for R&D. With Cocokind Lab, the company polls customers along every step of the product development lifecycle, asking questions about preferred colors, packaging, ingredients, and more—with around 30,000 responses each time.

As a result, all the major social networks will see growth in Gen Z users this year, with double-digit gains on Reddit (up 15.3%), TikTok (11.5%), and Instagram (10.5%). Among the rest, Pinterest will be up 7.9%; Twitter, up 5.9%; and Snapchat, up 5.1%. Even Facebook will be up 4.9%. Remember—Gen Z is more than just teens.

For the first time ever, Facebook is contracting in the US: The platform will lose users this year in its home market—and it’s getting grayer.

Focus on Gen Z: With TikTok continuing to outperform Meta properties at winning over younger users, the Facebook and Instagram parent has been inspired to diversify its revenue streams—but those attempts, thus far, haven’t been all that inspiring.