The metaverse may be far away, but video is here and now on social media—and consumer usage patterns are changing fast.

Read the latest stories from Insider Intelligence about artificial intelligence in social media.

Big Tech faces dilemma in Russia-Ukraine conflict: While rushing to get refugees to safety, companies debate remaining neutral, which would seem like compliance with Russia, or leveling sanctions and risking retribution from the Kremlin.

Ukraine conflict presents a chance for social media to amend a history of misinformation: American tech firms clashed with Russia over the weekend, often rebuking its requests.

TikTok and Instagram were once again the top US social networking apps of 2021, downloaded 94.0 million and 64.0 million times that year, respectively. Snapchat took third place with a 10% jump in downloads, leapfrogging Facebook, whose downloads fell by 11%.

The rollout of AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) in iOS 14.5 effectively deprecated the primary way publishers and advertisers track users on iOS and changed how the mobile ad industry approaches monetization and measurement.

Facebook Reels’ global rollout comes with fresh ad formats: The new banner and sticker ads both attract creators to the platform and offer marketers performance ad options for short-form video.

Since Facebook rebranded itself as Meta, mobile apps have been scrambling to stake a claim in the metaverse—on paper at least. In November, the month after the rebrand, 29 apps worldwide added “metaverse” to their name or description, more than double the number in October. This trend hasn’t wavered: In the three months since Meta emerged, 86 more apps have featured the buzzword in their name or description.

Apple's introduction of AppTrackingTransparency in iOS 14.5 changed how the mobile app industry approaches monetization and measurement. Here’s what you should know about the changes, along with best practices for mobile publishers and advertisers.

Among US social video viewers, YouTube is the top platform for watching short-form content, with 77.9% of those ages 16 and older going there to stream videos less than 10 minutes long. The No. 2 spot goes to Facebook, which captures a 60.8% share, while TikTok takes third with 53.9%.

Apple’s 2021 privacy updates have advertisers approaching iOS with caution and accelerating their investment in Android. Last May, soon after the changes rolled out, US Meta ad spending rose at about the same pace on both types of devices. By the end of December, growth on iOS had slowed to 3% year over year, while Android’s soared to 101%.

Meta’s lawsuits, settlements, and consumer sentiment are a mounting problem: The company can’t acquire its way out of this one.

Google, Meta find themselves in Europe’s regulatory crosshairs once more: As increased scrutiny drives up the cost of doing business, Big Tech tries to fight back.

Payments Ecosystem: This year will reveal how providers must adapt to lasting pandemic-driven digitization across payments channels, ranging from in-store retail to B2B ecommerce.

TikTok was the No. 1 mobile app in the US last year, with 94.0 million downloads, a 6% increase over 2020. Runners-up Instagram and Snapchat reached 64.0 million downloads and 56.0 million downloads, respectively, meaning the three most downloaded apps in the US were all photo- and video-sharing platforms.

Amazon lifts the veil over its advertising business: The retailer’s 2021 ad revenues outpaced YouTube’s and are poised for continued growth.

Meta’s earnings miss shows the vulnerability of its ad revenue model: The company could be in for a $10 billion hit from Apple’s privacy changes, and the rise of TikTok isn’t helping.

AR, VR, and video games present opportunities that marketers can tap into right now.