UK Future of Social Media Report 2024
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Stalling financial confidence will prompt cautious spending, limiting the growth of paid social media subscriptions and ecommerce. However, AI search/chatbots offer platforms the opportunity to take a stronger role in guiding purchasing decisions, something many will appreciate while being more selective about spending.
Consumers are concerned about the impact Gen AI could have on the spread of misinformation and authentic human interaction. Platforms will require strict AI labelling to mitigate concerns, while also ensuring that AI content does not disrupt the core purpose of social media: human connection. People also continue to be wary of the impact social media has on their wellbeing.
AI developments will alter the social media landscape, presenting many opportunities for platforms to engage users through search and content creation. 58% of social media users, however, would currently prefer to use a social media platform that banned all AI images/videos, highlighting that there will also be an opportunity for AI-free platforms/feeds to emerge.
This report looks at the following areas:
- Trends in the use of the major social media platforms and changes in time spent on social media.
- Key launches by the major social media platforms.
- Expectations of changes in popularity of the major social media platforms over the next five years.
- People’s expectations of their social media behaviour in five years, including use of AI chatbots and using social media via AR/VR glasses/headsets.
- Level of personalisation people want for news/entertainment content on their social media feeds.
- Attitudes towards social media, including misinformation on social media, the prospect of linking accounts to IDs and the health implications of using social media.
- Attitudes towards social media and AI.
As AI content and features become more dominant on social media platforms, there will be an opportunity for AI-free spaces to emerge.
Rebecca McGrath, Associate Director for Media and Technology
Market Definitions
This Report examines the UK attitudes towards the future of social media, and how social media use is likely to develop.
Mintel defines social media platforms as any platform focused on facilitating users to upload/share content and interact with other people at scale. Messaging services such as WhatsApp and Google Chat are not a focus of this Report.
For more specific focus on different aspects of social media, see Mintel’s UK Social Media: Engaging with Brands 2024 and UK Social Media: Sharing and Socialising 2024 Reports.
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Executive Summary
- Opportunities for social media
- Opportunity for AI-free platforms
- Provide greater personalisation options
- Gen Alpha will drive a new mega platform
- Market dynamics and outlook
- Market predictions
- Gen Z are using social media to search
- Graph 1: online platform Gen Zs go to first when searching for information, social media v search engine, 2024
- What consumers want and why
- People have increased the amount of time they spend on social media
- Few see YouTube’s dominance waning
- Graph 2: expectations of time that will be spent on select social media platforms in five years’ time, 2024
- People are unsure about using AI social media chatbots
- Users show mixed responses to feed personalisation
- AI will ramp up concerns over misinformation on social media
- Opportunity for ID-linked verification on social media
- Innovation
- Platforms continue to incorporate gen AI
- Snap and Meta invest in AR wearables
- Instagram promotes new Teen Accounts
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Market Dynamics
- Macro-economic factors
- Current financial wellbeing
- Graph 3: the financial wellbeing index, 2016-24
- Consumer confidence for the year ahead
- Graph 4: the financial confidence index, 2016-24
- Lower financial confidence will continue to limit social media subscriptions
- Social, environmental and legal factors
- Concerns about AI make consumers reticent about its incorporation into social media
- Graph 5: concern about increasing prominence of AI, 2024
- Gen Z are using social media to search
- Graph 6: online platform Gen Zs go to first when searching for information, social media v search engine, 2024
- Zuckerberg asserts plans to resist government interference
- Ofcom presents a warning over use of gen AI
- Donald Trump’s re-election creates uncertainty over TikTok’s US future
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What Consumers Want and Why
- Social media usage
- TikTok’s growth continues
- Graph 7: use of social media platforms in the last three months, 2019-24
- US election will put X in stronger position, but some will continue to look elsewhere
- More publishers and personalities leave X …
- … which could drive migration away from platform
- Men are more likely to use X
- Gen Z and Younger Millennials have different social media habits
- Graph 8: use of social media platforms in the last three months, by generation, 2024
- People use a large roster of social media platforms
- Graph 9: repertoire of use of social media platforms in the last three months, 16-24 year olds, 2024
- Older women are YouTube’s final frontier
- Graph 10: used YouTube in the last three months, by age and gender, 2024
- Threads is still niche in the UK, but its global presence is growing
- Pinterest is a key platform for targeting young women
- Time spent on social media
- Despite concerns over social media, people are not detoxing
- Graph 11: change in time spent on social media compared to five years ago, 2024
- Younger people have increased time on social media
- Graph 12: change in time spent on social media compared to five years ago, by age, 2024
- Expectations for social media habits
- One in five expect to increase their time on social media
- Graph 13: expectations of social media behaviour in five years, 2024
- Expectations of using AR/VR glasses for social media are fairly low
- Limit expectations of social media headsets
- Gen Zs and Younger Millennials are most likely to embrace social media AI chatbots
- People are unsure about using AI social media chatbots
- AI will boost ecommerce on social media
- Expectations for social media platforms
- Few see YouTube’s dominance waning
- Graph 14: expectations of time people will spend on following social media platforms in five years, 2024
- Differences in expectations for X based on gender and age
- Graph 15: expected changes to popularity of X in five years, by age and gender, 2024
- Attitudes towards social media and AI
- Implement detailed AI labelling
- Graph 16: attitudes towards social media and AI, 2024
- Worry over AI image manipulation requires strict policies
- Over half of users would prefer AI-free social media
- Opportunity for AI-free platforms and feeds
- Attitudes towards social media
- Strong desire for more misinformation regulation
- Graph 17: attitudes towards social media, 2024
- AI will ramp up concerns over misinformation on social media
- Platforms should look to mimic X’s Community Notes feature
- Encouraging healthier social media habits
- Opportunity for ID-linked verification on social media platforms
- Platforms should incorporate more dating features
- Attitudes towards new social media platforms
- People are open to a new major social media platform
- Graph 18: attitudes towards new social media platforms, 2024
- Gen Alpha will likely drive any new mega platform
- Young men are interested in trying a new platform
- Target young men with a new social media gaming platform
- Social media personalisation
- Users show mixed responses to personalisation
- Graph 19: how personalised social media users want the entertainment/news content on their social media feeds to be, 2024
- Provide greater personalisation options
- Content preferences should be easily changeable
- Younger social media users want greater personalisation
- Graph 20: how personalised social media users want the entertainment/news content on their social media feeds to be, by generation, 2024
- Have a ‘For Everyone’ feed as well
- Threads users are looking for greater personalisation
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Innovation
- Competitive strategies
- Platforms continue to incorporate gen AI
- Embrace AI but don’t forget the core human element of social media
- Improved safety measures for teens
- Instagram promotes new Teen Accounts
- Snap and Meta invest in AR wearables
- Snap shows off new version of its Spectacles
- Launch activity and innovation
- Snap to introduce AI text-to-video
- SocialAI enables people to interact with AI personalities
- X alters block functionality
- TikTok looks to further boost sport content on the platform with player-focused livestreams
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Appendix
- Report scope and definitions
- Market definition
- Abbreviations and terms
- Consumer research questions
- Consumer research methodology
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