Social Media

Most influencers consider brand awareness to be their primary role when collaborating with marketers. But in the past year, social networks like Instagram have slowly begun opening commerce features to creators, indicating that influencer marketing could soon play a larger part in driving purchases on social media.

eMarketer junior analyst Blake Droesch and senior analyst Jasmine Enberg discuss how COVID-19 changed social media engagement, platform advertising and influencer behavior. They then talk about TikTok's new "Transparency Center," the optimal social media posting lengths, Facebook Stories in other places and Instagram's disappearing text messages feature.

At a time when reliable information about the coronavirus is critical, trust in the news media in Canada is not as high as it should be, according to new research.

With large sectors of the economy unable to do business as usual, many marketers have paused or changed media plans. In one potential early sign of the tough times to come for digital advertising, Twitter updated its guidance to investors earlier this week and announced that it expects to see a drop in Q1 2020 revenues, on a year-over-year basis, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The wave of coronavirus (COVID-19)-related content has become a high-stakes test for social media platforms’ abilities to fight misinformation. False recommendations about how to avoid contracting the virus or what measures infected people should take to avoid spreading it have the potential to cause more sickness and death from a pandemic that has already taken thousands of lives worldwide.

As the government continues to wrestle with the coronavirus pandemic, US consumers and news organizations have rediscovered one of the things that made social media so valuable: Democratizing information about a fast-moving global story brings to light important narratives that official sources may miss, ignore or suppress.

eMarketer principal analyst Karin von Abrams and senior analyst Bill Fisher discuss Europe's response to the COVID-19 outbreak. How have governments reacted? Will this affect Brexit? They then talk about the UK's imminent digital tax, whether the Brits are ready for Disney+ and how not to do social media marketing.

Since launching in the US in 2017, social video app TikTok has exploded in popularity. But after nearly doubling its US user base last year, growth for the Chinese-owned app will slow in the coming years as competition heats up and concerns grow among marketers.

eMarketer principal analyst Mark Dolliver and senior forecasting analyst Oscar Orozco discuss how digital adoption has made it possible—or not—for people to work, study and entertain themselves from home during the COVID-19 outbreak. Who doesn't use the internet? Do people spend more time watching Netflix or YouTube? And which platforms get the most social media attention? They then talk about Spotify Kids, faster same-day delivery and Sling TV losing customers.

eMarketer forecasting analyst Eric Haggstrom and vice president of content studio Paul Verna discuss the details of the new short-form video platform Quibi. They then talk about Australia suing Facebook, Amazon selling its cashierless technology to other retailers and Postmates new "non-contact" food delivery option.

The total number of social network users in China will grow 4.8% to 859.1 million in 2020, and by 2023, nearly all internet users (96.8%) will be social network users, according to our forecast. Though the growth rate of social network users in China is slowing, there will be at least 30 million more social network users added annually between 2020 and 2023.

eMarketer principal analyst Mark Dolliver, junior analyst Blake Droesch and principal analyst Nicole Perrin discuss Facebook’s Pinterest-esque app, virtual sports arena advertising, fines for mobile carriers selling customer location data, ads on top of Ubers, LinkedIn ‘Stories,’ which country has the most islands in the world and more.

Twitter’s user growth has been plateauing for years, as social media users gravitate toward newer platforms like Instagram and Snapchat. But among the countries included in our forecast for Twitter user growth, seven of the top 10 are in Asia-Pacific—a regional trend also evident with Facebook and to some extent, Instagram.

Instagram has been working on several initiatives to enable commerce directly within the app. Last year, it made big moves that bring creators closer to that process.

The media’s obsession with Gen Z and TikTok is ever-present, but whether or not penetration levels are as high as the frenzy would indicate is debatable. Three charts paint a clearer picture of what usage and popularity currently looks like among Gen Zers.

eMarketer principal analyst Mark Dolliver, junior analyst Lucy Koch and forecasting analyst Eric Haggstrom discuss generational consultants, executive changes at Disney, the rising fortunes of music streaming and the role of social media influencers in politics.

Social ad spending is continuing to rise, and more US marketers—particularly those in retail—will keep funneling money into the channel.

As the 2020 presidential race continues, some candidates are turning to social media influencers to spread their messages and garner support for their campaigns. It was reported that former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg recently partnered with popular Instagram accounts to create meme content for promoting his candidacy, called the Meme 2020 project.

eMarketer vice president of forecasting Monica Peart hosts senior analyst Jasmine Enberg and junior analyst Blake Droesch in a discussion of TikTok's user forecasts, business model and place in the social media spectrum.

eMarketer principal analyst Debra Aho Williamson and junior analyst Blake Droesch recount their experiences interviewing 16 social media creators about how they approach brand partnerships, which platforms are working for them and influencers' role in the purchase process.