98% of American adults use social media. Younger consumers are the most prolific users, with 50% logging onto at least six different networks every day. It has relatively quickly replaced more traditional forms of media, namely video and audio, as a key form of entertainment for many. Connecting with others is the top motivation to use social media, however countless networks with different formats mean consumers seek out this channel for a variety of purposes, and rarely does a single network meet all their needs.
While social networks have many legal protections, Congress is starting to pay more attention to threats they may pose to national security as well as child welfare. A TikTok bans looms, but is unlikely to be settled as it works it way through the courts. Meanwhile, as generative AI matures, concerns over something now called “synthetic content” – the larger term used to classify AI-generated content, including deepfakes – comes into sharper focus.
Meanwhile, networks themselves look for ways to keep its users on their platforms for longer – including offering subscriptions for exclusive content, and mimicking content formats of other networks, such as short-form video.
This report looks at the following areas:
- Social media networks usage and preferences
- Social media activities
- Reasons to engage on social media
- Influencers
- Concerns with social media
Social media is a key channel for content consumption, especially for younger consumers.
Jason Praw, Head of Canadian Research
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Executive Summary
- What you need to know
- Consumer trends: key takeaways
- Social media is a force yet to yield
- Market predictions
- Opportunities
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Market Dynamics
- Demographic shifts bode well for continued social media usage
- Graph 1: population by race and Hispanic origin, 2018-28
- The fate of TikTok in America is uncertain
- Market share/brand share
- It's Facebook's (and X's) game to lose, as WhatsApp, Reddit and Telegram see major growth
- Mobile app daily average users for the top 10 social networks
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Consumer Insights
- Consumer fast facts
- So many social media sites, so little time
- Have you seen these logos before?
- What about these?
- Can you recognize any of these?
- Ring any bells?
- Making sense of all the social networks out there
- Site usage
- Social media takes center stage
- Graph 2: social media behaviors, by age, 2024
- Despite the variety of networks, Facebook and YouTube remain most popular
- Graph 3: daily and weekly social media site usage, 2024
- Men and women gravitate to different platforms
- For the youngest of adults, there is always room for another network
- Graph 4: daily usage of Instagram, Telegram, and Threads, by age, 2024
- While Black and Hispanic consumers are avid users, Asian Americans are not
- Graph 5: daily usage of social media (select), by race, 2024
- Stronger political leanings means more usage
- Graph 6: daily usage of social media, by political beliefs, 2024
- Men engage with more networks significantly more than women
- Graph 7: repertoire of social media sites visited daily, by gender, 2024
- Social media use is only growing among those most engaged
- Graph 8: social media behaviors, by repertoire of social media sites visited daily, 2024
- Opportunity to monetize via subscription among the most avid social users
- Graph 9: attitudes towards social media, by repertoire of social media sites visited daily, 2024
- Social media activities
- Younger consumers and men post most frequently
- Graph 10: social media posting frequency, by age, 2024
- Liking a post is the most common activity on social media
- Graph 11: social media activities in the past month, 2024
- Women interact, men watch
- Graph 12: social media activities in the past month, by gender, 2024
- Social is already taking up more media bandwidth for younger consumers
- Graph 13: media-related social media attitudes (% any agree), by age, 2024
- Younger consumers look to social networks for news
- Graph 14: attitudes towards social media (% any agree), by age, 2024
- Facebook drops the News tab
- Reasons for engagement
- Connection remains the top motivation for using social media
- Graph 15: "I engaged with social media to…", 2024
- Women seek personal interaction while men prefer a collective experience
- Graph 16: "I engaged with social media to… (select)", by gender, 2024
- Main character energy from social, seen more in younger users
- Racial differences in motivations
- Graph 17: "I engaged with social media to… (select)", by race, 2024
- Influencers
- Following influencers is very common
- Graph 18: "I follow people on social media that I don't know in real life", by age, 2024
- Bud Light forgets its core customer as it looks for new ones
- While commerce is still low, social media remains a vital means for engagement
- Graph 19: social media shopping behaviors in the past month, 2024
- Future of social media ecommerce looks bright
- Graph 20: social media shopping behaviors in the past month (select), by gender, 2024
- Social media is a key means for new brand discovery among younger consumers
- Graph 21: social media shopping behaviors in the past month, by age, 2024
- Black and Hispanic consumers use social media differently
- Graph 22: social media shopping behaviors in the past month (select), Black and Hispanic consumers vs overall, 2024
- Consumers who follow influencers more open to social media commerce
- Graph 23: social media shopping behaviors in the past month, influencer followers vs overall, 2024
- Influencer marketing is imperative to reaching younger audiences
- Concerns
- Bullies and posers need not apply
- Graph 24: behaviors by social media content creators/influencers would make one consider unsubscribing or unfollowing, 2024
- Women are more passionate about what turns them off from influencers
- Graph 25: behaviors by social media content creators/influencers would make one consider unsubscribing or unfollowing (select), by gender, 2024
- Older consumers are the easiest to turn off
- Graph 26: behaviors by social media content creators/influencers would make one consider unsubscribing or unfollowing, by age, 2024
- Younger women are most likely to take breaks from social media
- Graph 27: "I have taken breaks from using social media in the past", by age and gender, 2024
- Social networks in a touchy situation when it comes to moderation
- Graph 28: concerns about social media, 2024
- Social networks should be held liable for spreading inflammatory posts
- Graph 29: social networks should be held liable for spreading inflammatory or inciting speech posted by its users (% any agree), by age, 2024
- Left-leaning consumers and right-leaning politicians have something in common
- Graph 30: social media needs to be better moderated, by political beliefs, 2024
- Graph 31: social networks should be held liable for spreading inflammatory or inciting speech posted by its users (% any agree), by political beliefs, 2024
- Most agree social media isn't good for kids, but effective solutions are elusive
- Graph 32: children-related attitudes towards social media (% any agree), 2024
- Negative outcomes of social media often overshadow the positives
- Graph 33: social media is harmful to children (% any agree), by age and gender, 2024
- Most consumers want AI-generated content to be labeled
- Graph 34: AI attitudes about social media (% any agree), by age, 2024
- The Content Origin Protection and Integrity from Edited and Deepfaked Media Act
- AI, it's not all bad
- Graph 35: AI will increase the creativity of the content on social media (% any agree), by age, 2024
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Innovation and Marketing Trends
- Launch activity and innovation
- Snapchat+ reaches 11M paying users
- Instagram Reels aims to foster brand identity with sound
- Meta (and Snap) building AR glasses
- Marketing and advertising
- Hellmann and Suzuki's collaboration feels forced…
- …but Kerrygold and KitchenAid's influencer-brand collabs come naturally
- Skip The Dishes harnesses Twitch fandom
- Charlotte Tilbury shows South Asian inclusivity
- Representation of sexual orientation and gender identity
- Mesmerized by free sandwiches
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Appendix
- Consumer research methodology
- Generations
- Abbreviations and terms
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