Facebook remains atop the social ladder

The major social platforms hit the ground running in 2021, making substantial investments into many of today’s top social trends: audio, influencers, and short video, to name a few.

On today's episode, we discuss Twitter's major initiatives and figure out what the platform will look like after it reinvents itself. We then talk about Facebook's cost-per-thousand (CPM) recovery, TikTok's ecommerce efforts, and a recent study about COVID-19 news on Facebook. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer senior analyst at Insider Intelligence Jasmine Enberg.

Social networks will reach almost full penetration among adult Gen Zers this year, or 99.0% of users ages 18 to 24. The next-highest penetration rate will be among the 25-to-34 age bracket, younger millennials, at 90.9%.

On today's episode, we discuss Facebook and Apple's next virtual and augmented reality moves, Netflix cracking down on password sharing, whether Google and Facebook killed the concept of "free," what Americans will do with their stimulus checks, how ESPN+ will do on Hulu, where in the world there is a giant plughole in the ocean, and more. Tune in to listen to the discussion with eMarketer forecasting analyst Rini Mukhopadhyay, senior analyst Sara M. Watson, analyst Blake Droesch, and principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Jeremy Goldman.

Diet Instagram: The new, less data-intensive version of Instagram will help Facebook penetrate developing markets, where consumers are more sensitive to mobile data costs.

In the lead-up to the election, many social media users expressed growing exhaustion with the user experience due to the influx of political content. But those feelings of “election fatigue” didn’t cause most users to decrease their engagement on social.

The adoption of social commerce—the ability to shop and buy, directly or indirectly, via social media platforms—accelerated during the pandemic. The vast majority of social commerce today is within the discovery and consideration stages. However, checkout capabilities are not available from the leading social networks in Canada.

Social media usage, advertising, and commerce will reach new levels in 2021, presenting big opportunities for brands to engage consumers.

The pandemic led to many upward revisions of our UK digital user forecasts. Some changes (podcast listeners) will be permanent, while others will be temporary (digital gamers). Our social network user numbers, meanwhile, didn’t change much at all.

Within digital media channels, probably the longest-standing gap in measurement information lies with the walled gardens—a group that includes Google, Facebook, a host of other walled social platforms, and Amazon. Some in the industry are also talking more of walled gardens—or attempts to build them—in the connected TV (CTV) or over-the-top (OTT) space.

Despite how consumers feel about it, politics remains a core part of the social media experience. This report explores how marketers should navigate social in the aftermath of the 2020 US presidential election.

Livestreaming has become a prominent feature across the social media and digital video landscapes. Here’s how marketers are taking advantage of opportunities within the space.

Reviews have always been a key aspect of a consumer’s shopping journey. But nowadays—particularly as more consumers lean on ecommerce—additional information in the form of user-generated visuals is becoming just as critical.

eMarketer senior analyst Jasmine Enberg and forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Nazmul Islam discuss Twitter's stellar Q4 performance and how it managed to close out a terrible 2020 on a high note. They then talk about Snapchat redefining what friendship should mean, TikTok's fate in the Biden administration, and how much Shopify's "Shop Pay" could help boost Facebook and Instagram Shops.