We expect US social commerce sales to rise by 35.8% in 2021 to $36.62 billion. That’s only a slight deceleration in growth from 2020, when sales surged by 38.9% thanks to the pandemic-driven boom in ecommerce, increased social media consumption, and brands continuing to leverage these platforms to sell directly to consumers.

Internet memes are not a new phenomenon, but the events of 2020 have spurred their consumption. Despite their popularity among social media users, marketing with memes can still be a risky business for brands.

Over 80% said firms and brands should donate money or products to public organizations and institutions, produce ad campaigns and messages that are positive, and increase those that help consumption recover.

That’s only a slight deceleration in growth from social commerce’s blowout 2020, when sales surged by 38.9%, thanks mainly to the pandemic-driven boom in ecommerce and increased social media consumption. In 2022, the growth rate will dip back down to pre-pandemic levels, but sales are still rising from an elevated base.

But social media claimed more time than both combined. Digital video has now clearly surpassed the reach of live TV in UAE. Fully 95.4% of internet users ages 16 to 64 surveyed in H1 2021 had streamed video in the prior month, while 86.1% had watched live TV.

Younger people are still the main consumers of digital audio and video, but all internet users embrace social media. In total, 56.2% of respondents in Denmark had watched TV broadcasters’ catch-up or on-demand services in the prior month—a minimal gain since 2019. The share who watched TV shows they recorded earlier was also barely greater than in 2020 at 31.6%.

This year, 20.5% of all internet users polled owned such a product—perhaps a smart appliance, an energy consumption monitor, or a remotely-controlled security system. As in 2020, affluents and suburbanites were most likely to have a smart home device, posting penetration rates of 26.9% and 23.8%, respectively.

However, social media and messaging users were relatively modest in the number of services they engaged with—compared with internet users in Brazil or Mexico, for example. In Canada, more than 6 in 10 respondents said they used no more than six platforms in these categories. By contrast, consumption of music, podcasts, and other digital audio content was rather subdued, except in younger age groups.

What Factors Affect Consumer Trust in Social Media?

Social media is a massive draw, but some users spend longer than others. In most Latin American and many Asia-Pacific countries, internet users spent more than 3 hours each day on social networking and messaging. That was also true in Egypt, South Africa, and Turkey. Across most of Europe, though, social media occupied fewer than 2 hours per day.

At the same time, print magazine consumption stood at 60.3%. As in prior years, readership of both formats rose broadly in line with age—but penetration was also above 52% among internet users ages 16 to 24. Radio was also very popular, reaching 81.3% of internet users in Q1 2021. Females, affluent and rural residents, and respondents ages 35 to 64 were more likely to tune in to live radio.

In fact, social media and messaging engaged more internet users than any other activity. Nearly 95% of those surveyed in H1 2021 had recently visited at least one of 37 named social platforms, and 90.1% had used any of 20 named social messaging services, such as WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. Music streaming surpassed broadcast radio in terms of time spent.

Greater consumption of free and paid-for digital video hasn’t replaced older forms of TV viewing, however. In Q1, nearly 85% of Thailand’s internet users had watched live TV in the month before polling, and over 60% had watched TV shows they recorded earlier. In addition, nearly 69% had used a broadcaster’s catch-up or on-demand service.

Perhaps surprisingly, those polled estimated that they spent, on average, 5 minutes less per day with social media than the year prior at 1:58. PC and tablet penetration recovered from a low in 2020, while smartphones confirmed their role as the dominant media device.

Social media and voice assistants got more attention in this year’s survey. In H1 2021, 92.2% of internet users polled had checked in to at least one of 37 named social networks in the prior month, and 91.2% had used a messaging service. GWI rephrased their survey questions about social media this year, to obtain more precise data on how respondents engaged with social and messaging platforms.

Daily broadcast TV consumption increased compared with the prior year, to average 2 hours, 40 minutes (2:40). Time spent with radio fell marginally, though, to 59 minutes. Print newspapers and magazines maintained a smaller, but still substantial, market presence—read by 46.4% and 49.2% of internet users, respectively.

Digital audio consumption followed a very similar pattern: More than two-thirds of the youngest cohort and 44.0% of affluents had streamed music, podcasts, or other digital audio material in the month prior; males were more likely than females to do so. Japan’s internet users spent an average of 2 hours, 45 minutes (2:45) per day with PCs and tablets in H1 2021.

Yet the main cause is more likely the general surge in digital video consumption worldwide, which was already underway in 2019 and further accelerated by the pandemic. In keeping with that trend, smart TV penetration in Singapore climbed from 44.8% to 48.4% between 2020 and 2021. Digital audio apparently reached a smaller audience in 2021.

Young adults are the most avid adopters of augmented reality (AR) on social media, with 43% of those 24 and under having used such features and another 4% expressing intent to use them (CivicScience, January 2021).

As in past years, social media claimed a far larger slice of time than any other specific media activity, at 3:24 per day. In fact, social networking and messaging were nearly universal, engaging 99.0% and 98.0% of internet users, respectively, in H1 2021.

Almost 84% of internet users said they’d visited a social media site or app in the preceding month. In this newly revised data category, GWI now also includes respondents who used at least one of 20 named messaging platforms. This year, 93.6% had done so in the month prior. As in previous years, time spent with social media in South Korea was notably low compared with other countries, at 1:12 per day.

Consumption of podcasts, which GWI measured for the first time in H1 2020, accounted for 1:12 each day in H1 2021.

Social media and messaging far surpassed any other activity in terms of reach and time spent in H1. A notable 97.7% of internet users had checked in to at least one of 37 named social platforms in the prior month, and 97.2% had used a messaging service. Social media and messaging occupied 2:28 on a typical day.

The average time spent with social media and messaging was 3:22 per day. As in past years, these figures were among the highest GWI recorded globally. Moreover, most internet users were active on a large number of platforms. Over 55% of those polled used at least seven; of that group, nearly 17% said they used 11 or more social and messaging services.