TikTok reconfigures its social commerce strategy: As western consumers fail to embrace livestream shopping en masse, the social media platform is forced to dial back expansion plans.

Meta’s going back to basics: The social giant is one of many major companies tasked with focusing on key priorities in the second half of the year.

On today's episode, we discuss how Twitter could reinvent itself to become a new social network model, what its current to-do list looks like, and whether it would make sense to can some of its more recent initiatives. "In Other News," we talk about what Sheryl Sandberg leaving Meta means for the company and the significance of a YouTube Shorts milestone. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Debra Aho Williamson.

A new Frontier for startups: A handful of startups just got funding to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Using carbon as a raw material could help them reach market viability.

This year, US adults will spend 25.7% of their social media time on Facebook, down 9.6 percentage points from 2019. As Facebook’s share drops, TikTok’s will continue to grow. US adults will devote 16.7% of their social time to TikTok this year, up 12.2 percentage points from 2019.

In this report, we look at the most important updates among the leading social platforms in Q2 and how those changes will impact marketers.

This year, 4.0 million Gen Zers (born between 1997 and 2012) will become social network users, up 8.4% over 2021.

Big Tech post-Roe: As tech giants like Google respond to abortion rights loss, they face a quagmire of choices about strengthening digital privacy, censorship, and where to do business.

Cannes notebook: Social media platforms discussed new products, the metaverse, and creators at the June festival.

Ad industry’s spending winners: Google and Meta command a dominant share of the US digital ad market for now, but TikTok and Apple are among the companies that are muscling in.

Tech’s labor tug of war: Big Tech is raising pay and discouraging union efforts, but an increasing number of workers are banking on unions to give them a voice in negotiating working conditions and benefits.

Meta on the ropes: Meta shares have dropped, but metaverse adoption is expected to be a $13 trillion industry by 2030 as more players build competing immersive VR experiences.

Meta thinks users need stepping stones to the metaverse: Its Crayta announcement suggests many consumers need to be pushed along the “immersion continuum.”

On today's episode, we discuss the players in the advertising space—besides Meta, Google, and Amazon—that have created a billion-dollar ad business and which ones are close to gaining membership to the billion-dollar ad club. "In Other News," we talk about a refresh to the Federal Trade Commission's digital ad guidance and what Amazon's worldwide consumer chief stepping down means for the retail giant. Tune in to the discussion with our analysts Andrew Lipsman and Max Willens.

Tech’s reshuffling makes spending tough for marketers: The industry is refocusing on advertising, which is still shaky from a year of changes.

Among US social network users, those ages 18 and older will spend an average of 1 hour, 40 minutes per day on those platforms in 2022, the same amount as last year. This figure is peaking after pandemic restrictions fueled a rapid rise in social media use over the past two years, and it will decline by 2 minutes next year.

Adults in the UK are spending more time than ever with digital media. Time spent watching videos online, particularly via social, is soaring.

Tech wrestles with an era of uncertainty: As 2022 hits the halfway point, we look at how various technology companies navigate expected and unexpected challenges that could alter the business landscape.

Sheryl Sandberg is leaving Meta at a crossroads: Departure of No. 2 exec comes as company faces major business challenges.

With more than 6 in 10 smartphone users adopting mobile peer-to-peer payments in the US across multiple apps, providers are looking to widen their addressable base, mitigate pain points, and drive engagement.