As with other social networks, Twitter’s user base grew unexpectedly this year as pandemic-driven stay-at-home orders drove up social media usage overall.

On July 1, 2020, many advertisers pulled their spending from Facebook and Instagram, and in some cases Twitter, to show solidarity with the racial justice movement and for other reasons. While it got a lot of media attention, the ad boycott did not negatively affect the social properties’ ad revenues.

Social network ad spending has substantially rebounded since the early days of the pandemic. In 2021, the biggest issues social media marketers will face are in the areas of brand safety, ethics, and privacy.

The COVID-19 outbreak undermined many of our pre-pandemic US forecasts. Insight can now be gleaned by examining the difference between what we thought would happen as of February 2020 vs. what our forecasts now show.

Many people turned to social media in recent months to stay connected with friends and loved ones and to share information. But the pandemic didn’t increase the number of people using social networks or messaging apps.

In recent months, both Instagram and Snapchat have made several changes to their products that are reminiscent of growing contender TikTok. Instagram launched its highly-anticipated feature Reels, which allows users to create short videos set to music, and Snapchat introduced a slew of new features, including adding music and a test for vertical navigation.

This report explores the latest developments in the social media landscape, including a look at TikTok Global, Instagram’s launch of Reels, and new election-related moves from Facebook and Twitter.

Instagram has rolled out Instagram Shopping for its long-form video platform IGTV, part of the company's push to make social commerce more central to the app.

eMarketer vice president of content studio at Insider Intelligence Paul Verna speaks with Business Insider Intelligence senior research analyst Audrey Schomer and research associate at Insider Intelligence Daniel Carnahan about a recent report titled "Digital Trust Report 2020: How US social media users rank 9 major social platforms on privacy, safety, misinformation, ad annoyance and ad relevance." They break down the report into easy-to-understand bits and examine how users are helping to shape the popularity of the platforms examined in the report, available on eMarketer PRO.

Amid disinformation campaigns over the coronavirus pandemic and the upcoming presidential election, most US buy-side decision-makers are concerned about their ads potentially running up against controversial content on social media.

LinkedIn is the modern professional’s digital Rolodex. Since launching in 2003, it has afforded its users professional network continuity in an era of fluid career movement. In fact, it’s LinkedIn that has helped facilitate greater career mobility from company to company, and even industry to industry.

When it comes to protecting users’ personal information and providing a safe online environment, social network users in the US give lower marks to Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter.

While it’s too soon to bid adieu to the aspirational influencer, it’s clear that the pandemic has humbled many of even the most polished creators.

eMarketer principal analyst Mark Dolliver, junior analyst Blake Droesch and vice president of content studio at Insider Intelligence Paul Verna discuss how to recreate those water cooler moments in the digital world, how much Super Bowl LV commercials are going for, watching Instagram Stories on Facebook, parents' more positive view of devices, the number of Facebook Watch viewers, the difference between frugal and cheap, what you didn't notice about that double rainbow, and more.

Budget cuts and advertising pullbacks are giving companies in industries like retail, accessories and entertainment new reasons to explore the benefits of these technologies.

The pandemic has disrupted the influencer marketing industry. But it’s not time to completely throw out the rulebook, as most of the changes are accelerations of pre-existing trends, rather than transformative shifts in the market.

Seventy-two percent of US and UK consumers who follow influencers said they were spending more time on social media since the outbreak.

The influencer marketing industry is changing, and the pandemic is propelling many of the major shifts in the market.

Of the many channels out there, SMS may not be the most exciting, but it is the most personal. And when marketers want to build on those one-on-one connections with consumers, their efforts must be exactly that.

Google and Facebook made up 67.8% of the UK digital ad market last year, which we expect will drop slightly to 65.9% this year.