Instagram has its priorities in focus: Platform looks to draw advertisers to Reels, sees shopping wins in home goods and electronics as well as fashion and beauty, executive says.

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.

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

US social network user growth has slowed to a crawl, and that means the social platforms will compete fiercely for users and engagement. Marketers should optimize their spending to take advantage of shifting consumer behaviors.

US adults are spending more time watching YouTube on connected TVs and less time watching it on mobile devices. This year, for the first time since we began our forecast, less than half of time spent with YouTube will be on mobile, as viewers pivot to watching these videos on the same screen as their TV programming, separate from their TikToks and Instagram Reels.

TikTok kills two birds with one stone: The platform needs to court advertisers and become the most creator-friendly social platform. Its new initiative could do both.

On today's episode, we discuss what to make of Meta's turnaround user growth and slowing ad sales. "In Other News," we talk about the most important thing to pay attention to when it comes to influencers this year and whether Reels is Facebook's future. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Jasmine Enberg.

Meta juggles its Facebook present and metaverse future: The social network gains users, but recent losses could mean less money for metaverse R&D, giving VR platform competitors an opening.

Meta earnings didn’t quite disappoint: After a particularly challenging prior quarter, Meta didn’t quite right the ship, but it did staunch the bleeding.

Jane Ko tried to avoid TikTok. The blogger and creator’s platform of choice is Instagram, where her @atasteofkoko account has about 118,000 followers, and she felt she wasn’t the right fit for an app that burst on the scene with singing and dancing—things she says she isn’t good at.

The “TikTok effect” on influencer marketing is palpable, but Instagram and YouTube are still highly relevant venues for creator video.

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.

Nearly 400 million people in Latin America will use social networks in 2022. Facebook remains the region's biggest platform, but it will experience its slowest user growth on record this year as TikTok and Instagram make gains.

The company formerly known as Facebook will face its toughest challenges ever, while viral commerce will take center stage, TikTok-style short videos will evolve, and social audio will fade away.

On today's episode, we discuss whether TikTok is actually a top choice for social advertisers, how it compares with other ad channels, and what to make of the companies current shopping efforts. We then talk about Facebook's "meaningful pivot" around its ad business, the latest Federal Trade Commission suit against the social giant, and whether Reels on the blue app has potential. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Debra Aho Williamson.

On today's episode, we discuss Facebook's Q2 performance, whether Apple's iOS update has affected ad revenues, and what Facebook means exactly when it talks about its (and everybody else's) “metaverse” future. We then talk about the impact of Facebook Pay expanding to online retailers, whether Instagram Reels could come to Facebook's homepage, and some new privacy features for kids on Instagram. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer senior analyst at Insider Intelligence Jasmine Enberg.

This quarter, we are adding TikTok to our social media update series, which analyzes key developments for marketers from the major social platforms.

The explosion in vertical video is creating both opportunities and challenges for the Story format. Stories are evolving quickly on Instagram and remain a top venue for influencer activations. But Twitter’s decision to kill off Fleets shows they aren’t popular on all platforms.

On today's episode, we discuss mobile devices' role in online grocery, how consumers' physical and digital shopping worlds are colliding, and the next major challenge for grocers. We then talk about marketers' social strategies, why Facebook is risking scrutiny to launch an Instagram for kids, and what to make of Reels getting ads. Tune in to the discussion with vice president of marketing Camilo Reina Ramirez and marketing director Lina Toledo of Grupo Éxito and eMarketer senior analysts at Insider Intelligence Matteo Ceurvels and Jasmine Enberg.

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.