Social media usage continues to grow rapidly, reaching equivalent to more than 58% of the world’s population.
According to the Digital 2022 report, released by We Are Social and Hootsuite, social media usage has grown by more than 10% over the past year. There are now 4.62 billion social media users globally, with 424 million users joining since this time last year.
Social media took the largest share of connected media time in 2021 and people say they are spending more time on social channels each day than they did the previous year, at 2 hours and 27 minutes.
Facebook remains the world’s most used social platform. YouTube follows closely with its audience growing twice as fast as Facebook’s at 2.56 billion active users on the video platform, equivalent to 88% of the latest published Facebook total.
The third most used app is Whatsapp, followed by Instagram, whose audience was up more than 6%, 85 million users, in the last 90 days. TikTok growth is also accelerating rapidly, up 7.3%, 60 million users, over the same period.
“We are seeing rapid changes in culture, the economy and society more broadly,” says Nathan McDonald, We Are Social co-founder and group chief executive.
“The huge shifts in behaviour witnessed over the last 12 months are now permanent, and are set to accelerate even faster.
"More people than ever are spending time online: beyond social connections, information and entertainment, the growth of social commerce, gaming and spending on cryptocurrencies and digital goods is evidence of real cultural change. It's never been more important for marketers to have a deep understanding of online communities, cultures and subcultures.”
The report also found that internet adoption and use hit new highs last year. As of January 2022, there were 4.95 billion internet users globally, about 62.5% of the world’s population. This is an increase of 4% year-on-year. Average daily time spent using the internet, meanwhile, was almost 7 hours across all devices globally, up 1% year-on-year.
“I am excited to see how brands evolve with social trends as they leverage their platforms to be advocates and community builders,” says Maggie Lower, Hootsuite CMO.
“In a time when social distance regulations and non-essential business closures impact businesses everywhere, social commerce is often one of the only ways for brands to stay open and connected with consumers.
“If brands and organizations want to remain relevant, they will need to digitize and implement a social commerce strategy.”
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