Table of Contents
Executive Summary
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- The market
- Social media remains the most prominent smartphone activity
- Data protection issues could drive lower social media usage
- Social media companies could also be hit with massive fines
- Companies and brands
- Facebook announces FB5 redesign with a focus on groups
- Crackdown on dangerous pranks and challenges
- Twitter starts beta program with new coloured bubble design
- Because of You campaign spreads positivity
- The consumer
- Facebook usage drops but still dominates
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- Figure 1: Consumer usage of social media platforms in the last three months (Top Five) 2017-19
- Consumers still most likely to use Facebook every day
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- Figure 2: Daily social media use by brand, April 2019
- Smartphone social media usage grows
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- Figure 3: Devices used to access social media, March 2019
- Photos still dominate social media uploads
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- Figure 4: Most shared social media content, March 2019
- Over four in 10 consumers use social media for messaging
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- Figure 5: Motivations to use social networks, March 2019
- Vast majority think social media can negatively affect mental health
- Around half of social networkers cut down usage in the last year
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- Figure 6: Attempts to reduce social media usage and its impact on mental health, March 2019
- What we think
Issues and Insights
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- Private communication will be key to the future of social networks
- The facts
- The implications
- Social networks can be more proactive in dealing with mental health concerns
- The facts
- The implications
The Market – What You Need to Know
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- Social media remains the most prominent smartphone activity
- Data protection issues could drive lower social media usage
- Social media companies could be hit with massive fines
- Social networks battle against criminal content
Market Drivers
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- Social media remains the most prominent smartphone activity
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- Figure 7: Top five smartphone activities, March 2019
- Data protection issues could drive lower social media usage
- Social media companies could also be hit with massive fines
- Mental health concerns could also affect market
- Social networks battle against criminal content
- ICO plans to crack down on Snapchat and Facebook’s attempts to retain users
Companies and Brands – What You Need to Know
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- Facebook announces FB5 redesign with a focus on groups
- Crackdown on dangerous pranks and challenges
- Twitter starts beta program with new coloured bubble design
- Because of You campaign spreads positivity
Major Players – Facebook, Inc
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- Background
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- Figure 8: Facebook Daily and monthly active users, 2013-19
- User data exposed in range of incidents
- September 2018 – Cyberattack affects 30 million
- December 2018 – API bug and data sharing with company partners
- March 2019 – Bug reveals passwords internally
- Potential fallout
- Facebook considers cross messaging between social platforms
- Exploring cryptocurrency
- Facebook announces FB5 redesign with a focus on groups
- Instagram adds ecommerce app features
Major Players – YouTube
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- Background
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- Figure 9: YouTube monthly users, 2017-19
- YouTube trials back-to-back ads
- YouTube Premium comes to the UK
- Crackdown on dangerous pranks and challenges
Major Players – Twitter
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- Background
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- Figure 10: Twitter monthly active users, 2017-18
- Twitter deletes 70 million fake accounts after US election concerns
- Twitter starts beta program with new coloured bubble design
- Android users have protected tweets exposed between 2014 and 2019
- Twitter acquires anti-bullying firm Smyte
Major Players – Snapchat
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- Background
- Daily Snapchat users drop during 2018 but return in Q1 2019
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- Figure 11: Snapchat daily active users, 2017-18
- Because of You campaign promotes positivity
- Visual search with Amazon purchasing adds to m-commerce proposition
The Consumer – What You Need to Know
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- Facebook usage drops but still dominates
- Smartphone social media usage grows
- Photos still dominate social media uploads
- Over four in 10 consumers use social media for messaging
- Vast majority think social media can negatively affect mental health
- Around half of social networkers cut down usage in last year
Social Platforms Used
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- Facebook usage drops but still dominates
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- Figure 12: Consumer usage of social media platforms in the last three months, March 2019
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- Figure 13: Consumer usage of social media platforms in the last three months (Top Five), 2017-19
- As Facebook is falling, Instagram is rising
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- Figure 14: Consumer usage of Instagram in the last three months, 2015-19
- YouTube usage continues to be driven by younger generations
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- Figure 15: Consumer usage of social networks in the last three months, by generation (top five), March 2019
- Google+ shuts down after minimal market impact
Frequency of Social Media Visits
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- Consumers still most likely to use Facebook every day
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- Figure 16: Frequency of social network usage, March 2019
- YouTube again the focus for younger generations
- Instagram daily usage edges closer to Facebook
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- Figure 17: Daily social media usage by brand, 2017-19
Social Media Access Points
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- Smartphone social media usage grows
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- Figure 18: Devices used to access social media, 2018-19
- Under-40s show near-universal smartphone access
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- Figure 19: Usage of smartphones to access social media, March 2019
- Nearly half rank smartphones as favourite social media device
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- Figure 20: Preferred device for accessing social media, 2018-19
Type of Content Shared and Reasons for Using Social Media
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- Photos still dominate social media uploads
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- Figure 21: Most shared social media content, March 2019
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- Figure 22: Most shared social media content, 2018-19
- Over four in 10 consumers use social media for messaging
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- Figure 23: Motivations to use social networks, March 2019
- Snapchat users most likely to use social media for messaging
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- Figure 24: Top five motivations to use social networks, by social platforms used in the last three months (Top Five networks), March 2019
Attitudes Towards Social Media
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- Vast majority think social networks can negatively affect mental health
- Around half of social networkers cut down usage in last year
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- Figure 25: Attempts to reduce social media usage and its impact on mental health, March 2019
- Minority interest in combining social networks into one app
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- Figure 26: Interest in a universal social media app, March 2019
- A quarter interested in social media from smart speakers
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- Figure 27: Interest in social media through smart speakers, March 2019
Appendix – Data Sources, Abbreviations and Supporting Information
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- Abbreviations
- Consumer research methodology
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