After a tumultuous year, the social platforms will close 2020 on a high note in terms of ad revenues and users—and with features that closely resemble each other.

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.

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

While TikTok's popularity was picking up well before COVID-19, individuals secluded in their homes have been in search of new forms of entertainment, causing TikTok's US unique vistor count to rise 48.3% between January and March.

The coronavirus pandemic has significantly affected publishers’ short-term ad revenues. A March 2020 survey from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) found the majority of US news publishers have dealt with pauses, adjustments and cancellations of campaigns, while the same has been true to a lesser degree for non-news publishers in the US.

TikTok’s social commerce features are not as robust as Instagram's or Pinterest's, but the popular short-form video app has been slowly adding shopping ads while integrating creators along the way.

Instagram has been working on several initiatives to enable commerce directly within the app. Last year, it made big moves that bring creators closer to that process.

How will social network ad spending and social usage change in 2020? And what will happen in hot-button areas, such as privacy, ad targeting and political advertising in social media? Here’s what we think lies ahead.