eMarketer senior forecasting analyst Peter Newman and junior analyst at Insider Intelligence Blake Droesch discuss how the pandemic affected Americans' social networking behavior and where the major platforms now rank. Then, Blake talks about Facebook allowing cross platform messaging between Messenger and Instagram, shopping on Reels and IGTV, and a Delta Air Lines social media post.

We expect the number of Messenger users in Canada to rise 5.4% this year to 16.5 million. WhatsApp’s user base will be roughly half of that of Messenger, at 8.5 million in 2020. Still, it’s growing at a slightly quicker pace than Messenger, at 6.6% YoY. (This is the first time we are forecasting Messenger and WhatsApp users in Canada.).

According to research by Médiamétrie that was cited in a June 2020 article in Le Figaro, 31.9 million people used Facebook and/or Facebook Messenger daily in April, up from 27.3 million in February, before lockdowns started. These figures can’t be directly compared with our forecast, which is for monthly users and does not include Messenger-only users.

Our forecasts for Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp have also not increased substantially during the pandemic; we’re expecting a 3.9% rise for Messenger (compared with 3.1% in our February forecast) and 10.0% for WhatsApp (unchanged from before). Both will remain on their preexisting growth trajectories through 2024. Live Video and Esports. Live video has a fraught history.

The pandemic has fueled greater social media usage worldwide and prompted revisions to our earlier forecasts. We now expect the total number of social network users to rise 8.1% in 2020, to 3.23 billion—equivalent to 80.7% of all internet users.

Flash forward to today, and Facebook has integrated a Stories-like feature into all of its apps, including WhatsApp and Messenger, and Twitter now has its own disappearing photo and video feature, Fleets. But while the shift may have been in motion before 2020, the pandemic has greatly increased the speed at which these changes are happening.

Messenger Rooms: Facebook’s answer to videoconferencing platform Zoom, Messenger Rooms allows people to start a video call through Facebook or Messenger with up to 50 people for free. There’s no time limit, and users don’t need to have a Facebook account to join.

Others see significantly less use: Close to 3 in 10 use Instagram messages, while 2 in 10 are on Facebook Messenger. More like this:. Report: An Overview of 5G Technology Worldwide 2021. Article: New data suggests iOS users are opting in to tracking much less than previously expected. Article: The pandemic pushed XR use beyond fun and games.