Latest Trends in Global Social Media Use for 2022

“The power of social media is it forces necessary change.” – Erik Qualman

There’s no denying that digital adoption around the world has grown exponentially.

Social media continues to grow as well, with global users reaching 4.65 billion in April 2022.

The shift towards social media has transformed the way businesses do digital marketing.

Here’s what you can do to build the right approach:

a. Interpret the internet behavior of global users

b. Learn how many users are active on social media

c. Analyze the most widely-used channels

d. Understand the reasons why people use social media

And more!

In this blog post, you’ll learn about recent social media developments, as well as how they impact your social media presence.

Let’s dive in!

Research by GlobalWebIndex (GWI) shows that social media is rising in popularity and has transformed marketing.

The research answers some crucial questions about how users understand social media. Let’s take a look!

1. How Popular Is Social Media?

According to the DataReportal global overview report, social media has shown continuous growth.

Social media user strength reached 4.65 billion global users by April 2022, which is more than half of the total world population.

Every month, a typical social media user actively visits an average of 7.4 different social channels, and spends 2.5 hours a day using social media.

2. Which Are the World’s Biggest and Most Popular Social Media Platforms?

With 2.9 billion active users, Meta (formerly known as Facebook) is the world’s most widely-used social media platform.

While six platforms have more than 1 billion monthly active users each, half of them are owned by Meta.

In addition to this, there are 300 million active users on 17 social media platforms, including YouTube (2.6 billion users) and Instagram (1.5 billion users).

While WhatsApp has nearly 2 billion monthly active users, WeChat, TikTok, Snapchat, Twitter, and Pinterest are part of this list.

3. Do Social Media Audiences Overlap?

Active users on each individual platform together form the story of the global rise of social media.

While the world is connected through different social media platforms, users make use of a variety of these channels.

This is why there is considerable overlap between the user bases and advertising audiences of these platforms.

Here are figures that provide valuable insight into building a social media ‘mix’ or digital marketing plan.

This overlap also implies that marketers don’t need to use all platforms at the same time to target their audience.

If expanding your reach is your primary business objective, then you can focus on two big platforms knowing that you can target the majority of users.

4. Why Is It Important to Learn Why People Use a Social Media Platform?

Adding objectives to your business plan will enable you to build a marketing plan with a mix of social media platforms.

Digital marketers should explore the needs of different audiences on a particular social platform.

Understanding the pain points of your audience will help you plan an effective campaign.

The following chart lists a few reasons why users are on different social media platforms.

5. Do Users Have a Favorite Social Media Platform?

It is worth mentioning that the number of users on a social media platform may not always be translated into user preference.

The following figures show global platforms that are most liked and preferred by users.

Age and gender affects these preferences. For instance, GlobalWebIndex research says that younger people are more inclined to say that Instagram is their ‘favorite’ social media platform.

On the other hand, the older generation prefers Facebook and WhatsApp.

Here’s a chart showing the favorite social media platforms amongst female and male populations, respectively.

6. What Activity Do Users Believe a Social Media Platform Can Help Them With?

GWI research indicates that people visit different social media platforms to perform different activities.

For instance, messaging friends and family is more common on Facebook, while TikTok users use the platform to scroll through funny and entertaining videos.

In addition to this, users are more inclined to use Instagram and Snapchat to publish their own content.

Publishing content is relatively less popular on TikTok, LinkedIn, and Reddit.

Pinterest, the world’s most popular online pinboard, is popular for enabling brand-related content research.

The following chart lists social media platforms by the activities performed on them:

Key Takeaway

Social media is nearly universal now.

However, it is important for businesses to look at which platform is best suited for their objectives.

Understand customer challenges, locate your ideal audience, and build content they would like to see from you.

Check out the social media content calendar template and cheat sheet to effectively manage your social media marketing strategy.

Mold Your Social Media Strategy as per the Latest Trends. Contact Us!

References:

1. Datareportal