The Essential Social Media Stats of 2019 (So Far)

The Basics: How many people use social media?

There are approximately 3.4 billion active social media users worldwide. And how many of those users are on mobile? Nearly 3.2 billion. This means that more people can access social media on-the-go than ever before.

What’s the largest social media platform?

If you guessed Facebook, you’re correct. Facebook is the largest social media platform with 2.27 billion active monthly users. YouTube is a close second with 1.9 billion active monthly users, followed by WhatsApp with 1.5 billion.

And the ‘gram? Check out the top ten largest social media platforms below to see:

Algo-What? Algorithms.

 The social media experience is at the helm of a few bite-sized mathematical equations that dictate what user’s see in their feed. These are called algorithms, and they’re constantly changing and impacting the way users consume news and information. How exactly do they work, you ask? They’re based mainly on two factors:

• Algorithmic quality: a measurement of the quality standard of content available
• User’s previous history: the actions and reactions taken to specific content in the past

Whether by design or by choice, they have a direct impact on the success of social content – making it important to stay up-to-date on this ever-changing landscape. So, here’s what you need to know.

The Facebook Algorithm in 2019:

• Facebook has perhaps gone through the most drastic algorithm updates out of all the major social media platforms in 2019.
• The most recent algorithm update prioritises ‘meaningful interactions’. This means content that sparks genuine conversations among a community of people will have a higher likelihood of showing up in user’s feeds than click-bait or links to third party sites.
• High quality content is key. Facebook’s algorithm is all about prioritizing content that it believes its user’s actually want to see. This makes strategy, analysis and knowing your audience more essential than ever before.
• It’s all about Groups for both brands and individual users alike. In Facebook’s official press release on algorithm changes happening in 2019, Facebook said that it deems Groups as one of the most meaningful ways to connect with one another.
• Native video, live video and Stories are a must in order to win with Facebook’s new algo’.

The Instagram Algorithm in 2019:

• Where Facebook is all about ‘meaningful interactions’, Instagram is all about relationships. The algorithm prioritises content from accounts which interact with other users on a regular basis.
• Instagram’s algorithm also measures interests to predict which content will resonate with users based on their past behaviour. As Instagram is largely a visual platform, the ‘gram uses AI in its algorithm to recognize similar imagery that users have liked in the past.
• Remember when Instagram started showing you content from like… two weeks ago? That reverse timeline is long gone. The algorithm now prioritizes timeliness, which means that paying attention to your audience and knowing when they’re online is key.
• Instagram is also looking at how long users are online. The longer an average ‘session’ is for a user, the more Instagram will know about them and can better serve relevant content.
• The algorithm doesn’t favour users or brands that use Stories or the ‘Go Live’ feature or other in-app features. According to Instagram, no matter how the user may spend their time on the app, it’s considered interaction.

The Twitter Algorithm in 2019:

• Perhaps Twitter’s most considerable algorithm update of late was saying “bye-bye” to the chronological timeline. This is a move to show the most relevant content to the user first, rather than the timeliest.
• Unlike Facebook and Instagram, the Twitter algorithm won’t show users content that is days old, as the platform prioritises content that highlights ‘what’s going on right now.’
• Using the updated 280 character limit has been proven to increase engagement rates.
• Tweets from people that users engage with the most will take priority in the timeline.
• Off the back of some political controversy, bot usage is out entirely on Twitter.

And What About Social for Brands?

Social is no longer just a place for friends and family to interact with one another. It’s an essential space for brands and marketers to interact and engage with their customers. Social is a space for brand storytelling, customer service and a resource hub for consumers. From advertising to influencers, here’s what you need to know about social for brands.

Marketing Across Social Media:

• 90% of users reach out to retailers and brands via social media.
• There are more than 70 million brands on Facebook. And of those, 5 million are advertisers as of 2017.
• 80% of users follow a brand on Instagram.
• Instagram ads have been proven to increase purchase intent.
• 60% of people claim that they have discovered a new brand via Instagram.
• 80% of people on Twitter are affluent millennials, a demographic with some of the highest spending power among consumers.
• 70% of Twitter users are interested in retail.

Instagram – The Influencer Hub:

• Instagram was part of 93% of all influencer collaborations in 2018.
• About 80% of influencers view Instagram as a primary way of collaborating with brands.
• There are more than 500,000 active influencers on Instagram. That means that 39% of all accounts on the platform have more than 15,000 followers.
• In 2020, advertisers are predicted to spend 2.4 billion USD on Instagram influencer marketing.
• Only 39% of brands feel competent enough to pick the right influencer for their brand.