TikTok has broken social media with its addictive short-form videos, according to The Economist. While “broken” may be a bit strong, our analyst Debra Aho Williamson agrees that TikTok has irrevocably changed the way we engage with social media, including how much time we spend on the platform.

YouTube’s ad business took a hit in the latter half of 2022, with revenues down year over year in both Q3 and Q4. The company has since hired a new CEO, hiked YouTube TV prices, and introduced podcasts to YouTube Music to try to reverse the downward trend.

On today's episode, we discuss the effect TikTok has had on social media, what time spent on the platform looks like, and the impact of its new screen time limit for children and teens. "In Other News," we talk about whether social apps are taking up a bigger or smaller share of Americans' time spent online and what Meta's AR and VR hardware road map looks like. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Debra Aho Williamson.

Pinterest tests integrating Shuffles content into the main app, starting with shopping: This move is part of a broader strategy to become a one-stop-shop for visual inspiration and online shopping. (This article was written with the assistance of ChatGPT.)

TikTok looks strong in Asia as it faces bans elsewhere: Countries including Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand fuel the app's growth in its home region.

If TikTok gets banned (and it’s a very big “if”), advertisers need to know where consumers will go. Instagram and YouTube would be likely beneficiaries, but OTT TV like Netflix could also see gains. Advertisers may even branch out to other categories entirely, like retail media. Here are five charts showing what could happen.

US ad spend dropped 8.0% YoY in February, according to a MediaPost analysis of Standard Media Index’s US Ad Market Tracker. That marks eight months of consecutive YoY decline as part of a trend that began in July 2022.

Gen Zers are ready to spend. The majority will be adults in 2023, meaning increased spending power. And they rely heavily on digital when making purchases: Gen Z will surpass Gen X in the number of US digital buyers by 2025, per our forecast.

Social platforms are gaining in search: More US consumers are researching products on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, which could bode ill for Amazon and Google.

TikTok will see 11.6% global user growth this year, according to our forecast. That’s about double Snapchat’s and Instagram’s expected growth. The ByteDance-owned app will boast more than 900 million monthly users this year—if it manages to stay in the US, its biggest country.

Chewed out on Capital Hill: TikTok CEO testimony fails to convince lawmakers, leaving platform's future in the US uncertain

TikTok sister app Douyin is a livestream behemoth in China, where nearly 40% of internet users also engage in livestream shopping, according to our forecast. But in the US, the format hasn’t caught on in the same way.

The creator economy has permeated nearly every industry and redefined how people think about making a living. But the landscape is changing, driven by shifts in relationships between the key stakeholders.

The South by Southwest festival returned to Austin, Texas, in full force this year, with discussions on the future of technology, brands, and marketing. Here, we lay out the top trends and takeaways.

Scroll through TikTok and you’ll see young users explaining why acting millennial online is “cringe,” or embarrassing. But millennials are still the biggest buyers on social media. As Gen Z grows up, they’re gaining on millennials a bit. But millennials will continue to outnumber Gen Z—and other generations—on social media through at least 2026.

On today's episode, in our "Retail Me This, Retail Me That" segment, we discuss why livestream shopping hasn't caught on in the US and the UK the same way it has in China, what TikTok is doing to make the US’s launch more successful than the UK's, and what shoppers are looking for from a livestream. Then for "Pop-Up Rankings," we rank the top four brands that have done livestream shopping well. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analysts Sky Canaves and Carina Perkins.

As the possibility of a TikTok ban grows in the US, users are looking for other platforms to satisfy their short-video needs. In a Cowen survey, 26% of adult US users said they’d switch to Instagram Reels, and 21% said they’d head to YouTube Shorts. Meanwhile, 37% had no plans to use another short-video app.

An ultimatum by the Biden administration gives ByteDance no recourse but to sell TikTok—which China’s government doesn’t seem likely to allow—or risk being banned.

Beauty is proving resilient to the cost-of-living crisis as shoppers splurge on premium products to boost their mood and skin health. But it won’t escape unscathed, with consumers already streamlining their beauty regimes and searching for bargains online.

A TikTok ban would put influencer payment policies to the test: YouTube and Instagram are eyed as alternative platforms as the TikTok debate heats up.