Social media is, without doubt, the most common way people connect with each other within Australia and around the world. Unsurprisingly 80% of Aussies use social media and spend an average of 1 hour 46 minutes a day scrolling – entertaining themselves, keeping in contact with mates and just generally having a good time. With the pandemic accelerating this digitally bound world, 2020 saw 75% of Australians turn to the socials for literally everything – clothes, groceries, technology and news. In 2021 we have seen an every bigger jump and our Social Media trends are constantly changing, with one of the most common trending area no surprise, it’s literally anything video. TikTok is a perfect example of how this change in Social Media Trends is also changing our social media usage and engagement habits.
To shed a little more light on our digital craze, here’s a breakdown of how we’re spending our time on social and more about the top social media trends for 2021.
Facebook continues to reign supreme above all other social media platforms with over 60% of Australians logging onto the app daily, predominantly via mobile. Not so surprising since everyone and their mum are on the platform now.
Ever tagged your parents or siblings in a funny, relatable Facebook meme? Facebook has made it so easy to share funny content with any member of your family, even your grandparents!
Youtube
Whether it’s makeup tutorials, newly released music video clips, or reruns of The Big Lez Show, Youtube holds firm as Australia’s second most popular social media platform. Currently, 75% of Aussies are on the platform. Youtube has continued to grow as video media becomes increasingly popular with over 500 million hours of videos watched globally each day.
In only 24 hours, BTS’ video ‘Dynamite Official MV’ gained over 101,100,000 views, making it the most viewed Youtube video in 24 hours!
Next up, Instagram. Also no surprise, particularly given the recent updates to the layout and structure of the platform – including Instagram Shopping, TV, Reels and generally more engaging content. The type to keep you scrolling for hours on end.
This egg is the most liked post on Instagram with over 54 million likes. Who knew an egg could be so popular!
Moreover, social media platforms evolved alongside the changes in business functions. We saw platforms such as Zoom, Teams, and Google Meet become essential for work and education as we all became confined to our homes. As a result, Zoom was the most downloaded app of the year.
Zoom became such an essential part of quarantine life that it’s not surprising that some of the greatest relatable memes came out of people being confined in homes with only the internet to connect them to the world!
More craziness from 2020 saw a jump in the overall number of social media users between April 2019 and January 2021 by 4.3% (735,000), and we expect that trend to continue to rise as each year we embrace new apps that send us into a scrolling frenzy (we’re looking at you Tiktok ;))
So with 2020 being a year that changed the world and the way we interact with each other and 2021 showing further growth on those changes, what does the rest of 2021 have in store when it comes to the world of social media? Stay tuned for our follow up article to find out!