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Social Media - UK - May 2021
Overview
 
What you need to know
The issue of handling harmful content has grown following the suspension of former US President Donald Trump across social media and the prevalence of COVID-19 misinformation. Challenging some preconceptions about cancel culture, younger people are less likely to want people banned for misinformation. Just 15% of 16-24 year olds favour this action for political misinformation and 17% for COVID-19 misinformation, compared with the average of 34% and 37% respectively. Younger people are more likely to favour content labels and the removal of harmful content.

Most platforms have seen a boost in recent usage due to the additional time at home during the pandemic. TikTok has experienced the strongest growth, from 8% recent usage in March 2020 to 18% in March 2021, rising to 50% among 16-24 year olds. While the high usage rates may fall back as lockdown restrictions are eased, we will see more content creation as users socialise and travel more.

Social media is coming under increased scrutiny, with Facebook in particular in dispute with regulators in Germany and Australia. Regulatory changes could hit revenues, while concerns over data-sharing could hit brand perception. The handling of misinformation is also a pertinent issue, with 54% of social media users having seen COVID-19 misinformation on social media. Failure to manage harmful content is a bigger threat than ever in such a competitive market of platforms offering increasingly similar features.

Widespread new feature launches provide the opportunity to keep users engaged and on platforms for longer periods, ultimately boosting advertising revenues. With several platforms launching short-form video to compete with the growth of TikTok, alongside increased audio and video chat integration, users will be less likely to leave an app to perform these functions elsewhere. This could also strengthen the potential for in-app shopping, with 27% of social media users saying they are interested in purchasing directly within social media apps.

Key issues covered in this Report
●	The impact of COVID-19 on social media
●	Key developments from the major social media platforms over the last year
●	Frequency of use of different social media platforms
●	Consumers’ social media priorities and perceptions of the major platforms
●	Consumers’ attitudes towards social media.

Products covered in this Report
Mintel defines social media platforms as any platform focused on facilitating person-to-person interactions or sharing media with other users.

The ‘Top Five’ social media platforms refer to the group of platforms which take up the largest sections of the market – Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.

For a more specific focus on social media influencers and creators see Mintel’s Influencers – UK, January 2021 Report.

Market context
The first COVID-19 cases were confirmed in the UK at the end of January 2020, with a small number of cases in February. Rapidly rising case numbers led to the first national lockdown, starting on 23 March. It wasn’t until 15 June that non-essential stores were allowed to reopen, followed by pubs, restaurants, hotels and hairdressers on 4 July and many beauty businesses on 13 July.

By September, it had become clear that the UK was at the start of a second wave, and social distancing measures were intensified. Continued increases in infection numbers led to Wales implementing a two-week national lockdown from 19 October, England announcing a month-long lockdown from 5 November and Scotland introducing a new five-level system of coronavirus restrictions.

Despite these restrictions, however, case numbers continued to increase. All four UK nations tightened restrictions further in January 2021, effectively leading to a full UK-wide lockdown.

On 22 February, Boris Johnson announced the roadmap to an easing of restrictions in England, starting with the reopening of schools on 8 March, followed by easing of restrictions on outdoor gatherings on 29 March and with a hoped end to all restrictions by 21 June. The Welsh and Scottish governments also gave more details on their plans to ease restrictions, with both nations taking a slightly more cautious approach to the one planned for England.

The UK’s vaccination programme started on 8 December 2020, and with the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines licensed for use in the UK, the government aims to offer a first dose of the vaccine to all adults by the end of July.

Economic and other assumptions
Mintel’s economic assumptions are based on the Office for Budget Responsibility’s central scenario included in its March 2021 Economic and Fiscal Outlook Report. After the fall of 9.9% over the course of 2020, the scenario suggests that UK GDP will grow by 4% in 2021 and 7.3% in 2022.

GDP isn’t expected to return to pre-COVID-19 levels until Q2 2022, although this is six months earlier than the OBR forecast in November 2020, mainly because of the faster-than-expected rollout of vaccines.

Unemployment is expected to peak at 6.5% in Q4 2021. As with GDP, this is more positive than the OBR’s November forecast, but the OBR does raise the prospect of long-term scarring on employment, especially in the more exposed retail and hospitality sectors.

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