2019 Social Media Content Trends Report

Recently, GlobalWebIndex (GWI) released the GWI Social GlobalWebIndex's flagship report on the latest trends in social media for the first quarter of 2019. The report provides an in-depth analysis of the social media world from three perspectives: the latest social media interactive engagement data, key social media trends, and the most popular social entertainment platforms. The report provides detailed answers to the following questions:

• How much time do digital consumers spend on social media every day?
• How has the behavior of social media users changed?
• Which social platforms are most popular (both in total online population and among key audience segments)?
• How do consumers interact with brands on social media?
• How is social media evolving as a content platform and a business platform?

This report is produced by GWI and compiled by Tencent Media Research Institute.

01 Social media interaction and participation

1. Social Media and Digital Health

Percentage of users who use the screen time tracking feature. Red indicates heavy Internet users, who use social media services for more than one hour a day

The social media industry has been facing a reckoning and challenges over the past 2-3 years. Specifically, it includes the following aspects: how much time people spend on social media, its impact on young people, scandals regarding the handling of extreme content, and the definition of platform responsibility for the spread of false content.

The digital health tools that were promoted by the industry in 2019 are one of the fruits of this movement.

Last year, Google took the lead in proposing the concept of "Digital Wellbeing" to provide users with screen usage time analysis. In addition to Android users, Apple users can also find "Screen Time" on the updated iOS 12. Facebook and Instagram have also launched similar features.

Google’s research shows that 78% of users feel more satisfied with their phone use since using a digital wellbeing app.

1. Time spent on social media

Globally, digital consumers spend an average of 2 hours and 23 minutes per day on social media and messaging apps . In the third quarter of 2018, time spent on social media remained the same or decreased in a few countries. By 2019, this trend continued, with 20 of the 45 countries and regions surveyed showing such a trend.

Globally, 16 to 24-year-olds spend the most time on social media every day: nearly three hours on average. This is because smartphones and instant messaging apps have become the focus of young people's lives. It is worth noting that social media consumption is synchronous rather than unidirectional ; people use social media while watching TV.

1. User usage time by region

Young people are most enthusiastic about social media, and Internet users in emerging market countries tend to be younger than those in developed market countries, which also explains the significant differences between regions.

But looking only at the data for the 16-24 age group, the average daily duration in developed market countries is also very high. In Europe, the country with the highest social media interaction participation rate is Russia, at over 4 hours, and its unique social platform ecosystem may be a key factor.

Even among the 16-24 age group, Asia and Latin America are far ahead. Of particular note are Argentina (4 hours 17 minutes), the Philippines (4 hours 16 minutes) and Colombia (4 hours 12 minutes).

Latin American countries account for half of the top ten social media usage times

1. Social media reaches saturation

Average number of social media accounts owned by Internet users of different age groups and regions

Social media users are accustomed to using multiple platforms at the same time; in 2013, the average user had about 4 social media accounts, and now that number has risen to 8.1. This is due both to the proliferation of social media platforms and the emergence of specialized platforms , such as Twitch or Pinterest.

Just as the amount of time people spend on social media has begun to remain constant or even decrease, the number of social media platforms people use seems to have reached saturation. Since 2017, the average number of social media accounts per user has not increased significantly, and this trend has continued into 2019. The reasons may include the increase in older consumers (who use social media more singularly) and the stagnation of user growth on certain key platforms. The most important is the rise of pure mobile Internet users who only use specific mature social platforms.

Although social media usage has reached saturation in developed regions , users in emerging countries are still heavily using social media. Indonesia, India and Egypt are representatives of diverse social media.

1. Diversifying social media: Market observations

Number of social network accounts per capita in the first quarter of 2019

1. Dark social is booming

The proportion of users sharing information or content through different channels

"Dark social" refers to network traffic that is almost impossible to track and is shared directly by Internet users through private links, as opposed to publicly posted or shared content. Dark social is often done through private messaging apps and email, making it difficult for brands to reach them.

Internet users in the UK and US are now more willing to share information or content with friends and family on private messaging apps than publicly socializing (posting on social media accounts) or even communicating face-to-face (word-of-mouth offline/in person).

Since its advent in 2012, dark social has become an important way of socializing and a major marketing channel that cannot be ignored by major brands.

Light photo-sharing apps like Snapchat and Instagram allow users to select and share their favorite content, giving people the opportunity to rebuild their own social networks. Guided by the culture of influence, these platforms also guide people to "show off" themselves on social media.

To address the challenges of dark social, directly interacting with young users in private spaces is one solution. Another approach is to create more shareable content and encourage people to use the “share button” to share content with friends and family in a private space. Regardless of the method used, the most important and fundamental thing is to respect user privacy.

1. Motivations for using social media

As we can see from the previous article, the role of social media is changing. Digital consumers are now more likely to use social media to keep up with the news (40%) than as a platform to stay connected with friends (39%). Although entertainment (38%) ranked only third, it had the highest growth rate and plays a key role in motivating digital consumers to use social media.

Social interaction has led to the development of social media platforms into entertainment hubs . Social interaction is no longer a purely "social" activity, but a more purposeful activity, especially based on content consumption. This explains why usage motivations such as news, entertainment content, searching for product information, and watching sports events have increased in share over the past few years.

The 16-24 age group listed “finding funny or interesting content” (47%) as the main reason for using social media, followed by “killing free time” (46%). “Keeping in touch with friends” received 43% of the vote among the 16-24 age group, which is lower than that of all other groups. As Gen Z and millennials become less interested in what other people are doing — and increasingly eager to unplug — the most likely widespread use of public social media platforms will be as entertainment hubs.

02 Social Shopping Behavior

1. Social Shopping Journey

For a long time, allowing users to shop in their own apps has been the goal of major social platforms. Social shopping is seen as having the potential to become a major source of revenue in addition to advertising revenue . In Asia, platforms such as WeChat and Line have successfully integrated into e-commerce , allowing consumers to call a taxi, pay in stores, check out for shopping, etc. The success of social commerce in Asia Pacific is based on social or embedded payment systems and strategies that fully involve consumers.

But in most Western countries, social shopping has struggled to survive. Consumption habits are difficult to change overnight, especially when financial transactions involve sensitive privacy information. Social media plays an important role in the purchasing decision process , but people's willingness to complete purchases within the platform remains low.

Therefore, in Europe and the United States, social video software occupies a strategic position. Small but sophisticated social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest are best suited to seamlessly bridge the different stages of the social shopping process , namely the research stage and the purchase stage. These platforms allow users to share various pictures, recommend or like each other, and allow users to enter stores through pictures, driving their core e-commerce business. Likewise, detailed and sophisticated personalized recommendation tools, as well as more advanced chatbots and machine learning, can do the same.

03 Social Entertainment Preference Survey

1. What types of users do people follow on social media?

More than a third of internet users said they follow their favorite brands on social media, while 27% follow brands that are popular with consumers.

The data also reflects the general changes we have seen in the social media landscape, with news, entertainment, shopping and content playing a larger role. This trend is also reflected in the actions of major brands, which are striving to create high-quality video content with high click-through rates and strong shareability . The 16-24 age group contributes greatly to “Internet celebrities” (influencer accounts on the Internet). Half of users in this group would follow “actors” (46%) on social media, ahead of “brands” (44%).

Only 19% of 16-24 year olds said they discovered new brands through celebrity or influencer endorsements, suggesting this group can be influenced through other “traditional” means.

1. Personal use of social networks

According to the social media groupings defined in this report, the vast majority of social media users can be divided into individual users and celebrity users.

58% of social media users are fans of a brand. Many users like to see branded content on their homepage recommendations, and half (51%) of users like to interact with brands. How to make a brand stand out on major social platforms has become a crucial marketing strategy.

1. Social Media Behavior: Market Insights

Social media usage by market

1. Social Video

60% of internet users outside of China have watched a video on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat or Instagram in the past month. People's habit of watching videos on social media and the popularity of online TV have given platforms such as Facebook an opportunity to enter the television industry.

Live video streaming has also become an important feature that major social media platforms are competing to configure. It not only allows users to produce original content, but also conforms to the current trend of combining entertainment and marketing. Brand live streaming can also enhance interaction with consumers.

Another form of video is also on the rise: video calling . In 2018, video calling increased across all user groups, including students and office workers. But Generation Z (referring to those born after 1995 and 2000, also known as the Internet Generation) is the most worthy of attention because they determine the development trend of social media in 2019.

Houseparty and Squad point to a new frontier in social media: the connection between entertainment and communication will become closer in virtual social spaces, such as the social needs in the gaming field.

1. Social Sports

The sports industry has already shifted toward digital and social media, and there is still plenty of room for growth.

In the first quarter of 2019, 22% of Internet users worldwide said that "watching or following sports events" was one of the main reasons they used social networks , and this proportion climbed to 39% among social live video users. This proportion increased by 47% compared to the fourth quarter of 2016.

Sports fans are craving more tailored, easily accessible content. Live streaming is a way to get everyone excited. Facebook plans to use its VR (virtual reality) platform and devices to enhance and provide new user experiences and build fan communities. When people get used to watching sports events online, it will help in generating cash revenue.

The gap between men and women's use of social media in sports is narrowing

Last year, Major League Baseball (MLB) signed an exclusive live streaming deal with Facebook for 26 games worth $30 million. The program was a huge success with 123 million views and is still in effect this year. Facebook has also signed a deal with La Liga to broadcast three seasons of its matches in India for free. YouTube is also an important platform in this area.

29% of sports social media users want to see exclusive content from their favorite brands and are 50% more likely to promote it than the average user. Exclusive content is particularly important to younger consumers; sports fans aged 16-24 are more likely than the average sports fan to be motivated by exclusive content or services.

1. Social Music

So far, social music streaming has been challenging . Although YouTube, SoundCloud, Spotify and Apple Music have all launched some social features, they are still not satisfactory.

In China, Tencent owns several music apps including QQ Music, Kugou and Kuwo, with approximately 650 million active users and 27 million paying users. Users can listen to music, buy digital albums, sing karaoke with friends and interact with celebrities, making it a very dynamic social media platform. By integrating WeChat, the social attributes of Tencent Music have been greatly enhanced.

04 Future Trend Events

1. Facebook: Will launch cryptocurrency "Libra" in 2020

7% of people who visited Facebook in the last month own cryptocurrency. To try to stabilize its digital currency, the company is looking to peg it to an existing “basket” of currencies including the U.S. dollar, euro and yen.

1. WhatsApp: Ads to be launched next year

Facebook has confirmed the news. The app, which 60% of internet users outside of China use monthly, is now looking to increase revenue. 42% of WhatsApp users are willing to buy advertised products, but 26% of users said they would use ad blockers.

1. 5G is coming soon

37% of US and UK consumers said they would switch to 5G as soon as it becomes available.

5G communication is one of the technologies most anticipated by consumers. It will improve the quality, speed and reliability of mobile entertainment and provide an ideal experience for new types of entertainment such as streaming online games. Social media companies hope to get a bigger piece of the 5G market.

1. Spotify: Eye-Catching

Spotify will launch a feature called "social listening" that allows multiple people to add songs to a real-time queue by scanning QR codes, which may become a new viral marketing channel.

Author: Tencent Media Research Institute

Source: Tencent Media Research Institute