Top 5 trends in Social Media and Influencer Marketing | August 2020

On the verge of the new academic year, our team has examined the digital environment in search for the latest news. It turned out that the last summer months have brought a lot of interesting insights into social media and influencer marketing. The following 5 trends were carefully selected to highlight the most important updates in the online environment.

1. Facebook data reveals new digital media trends amid the COVID-19 pandemic

Photo Credits: Wired

Coronavirus pandemic and the following safety measures have drastically changed the lives of many individuals and businesses. With the help of Facebook data, the following trends were examined. Take a closer look, they might be changing the present and the future of our everyday routines!

1. Safety, along with price and convenience, has recently become one of the most important concerns while shopping. Thus, buyers are getting used to online practices and are engaging with new ways to improve their shopping experience like Amazon BOPIS - ‘Buy Online, Pickup In-Store’. Moreover, it was found that 40% of customers are ready to continue shopping online even after the pandemic.

2. In such stressful times caused by the worldwide disease outbreak, people are trying to occupy themselves with calming and relaxing activities. That is why lately there was an increase in the downloading of meditation apps to contribute to mindfulness and wellness. They can help to not only distract from everyday worries but also to embrace things that are not instant in life and deserve patience.

3. Many consumers start appreciating people and businesses that maintain neighborhood communities. The reach to local businesses increased by 23% while the membership of local Facebook groups grew 3.3 times. Glocalization is also seen through the way people treat the pandemic. All around the world users showed to be 1.26 times more concerned about the global Coronavirus situation than about their own country. More than that, since January 2020, people globally have donated over $100 million to COVID-19-related fundraisers across Facebook and Instagram which shows how the growing concerns are transformed into action.

4. Generation Z already represents 41% of the world population. As digital natives, they keep themselves up-to-date with emerging online activities and tend to dedicate more time to leisure and hobbies. Being a generation that holds strong values, they are 1.21 times more likely than average to recognize the reduction of environmental impact as crucial in the times of pandemic. That is why over half of European Gen Zers have recently become more engaged in activism and social causes.

5. As much as the pandemic limited offline interactions, it has brought us closer through the digital world. From celebrating parties online to having consultations with doctors via video chat, people feel more connected to each other and the corporate world. It again stresses how coronavirus has changed our routines on the one hand and how we managed to overcome these challenges on the other. 

2. How social media channels efforts to remove hate speech and offensive content

Photo Credits: Social Media Today

Following the recent eventful months, all social media platforms have focused on reducing hate speech and offensive content.

Firstly, as already mentioned in our past articles, TikTok has been really active and loud about taking measures to detect and restrict hate speech. It is especially important for this social media app, taking into account that more than ⅓ of its US users are under 14 years of age. Today, after being accused by the US administration of possessing a national security risk, TikTok is filing a complaint which stresses that the platform does indeed take serious measures to strengthen its security system.

Being warmed up by an advertiser boycott, Facebook has also decided to strict its policies against offensive content. The most recent update concerns blackface, the Dutch Zwarte Piet in particular. Facebook is taking measures to extract images that break the company’s guidelines and thus limit the hateful content on the platform.

Also, Reddit recently launched policies against abusive comments on its website, which have now decreased by 18%. The rationale for these actions is two-fold. On the one hand, Reddit aims to improve user experience. On the other, this may help the platform refine its appeal to potential advertisers. 

As for Snapchat, this app has as well demonstrated its corporate social responsibility in action by releasing a first CitizenSnap report. The document consists of information over the actions made both by the digital platform and its community in the offline world around 3 issues: society, planet and people. This overview shows the efforts made by the Snapchat team towards creating a healthier and better society which nowadays is undoubtedly one of the main goals businesses should strive for.

3. Snapchat now has lenses specifically to be used in viral TikTok dance challenges

Photo Credits: Digital Information World

Over its lifetime, Snapchat has created various lenses so people can use them for the content which is later posted on different platforms.

This year, the app launched the lenses to use specifically on TikTok. They track people’s movements and change in response. To leverage their popularity, Snapchat partnered with 4 TikTok stars, such as Loren Gray (46.8M), to showcase its new invention so that other users can utilize this tool for the most popular challenges. For now, only 2 lenses have music embedded but Snapchat works on further music implementation. The main goal of this launch is to incentivize people to come to Snapchat for its tools and position the platform as a place for exercising users’ creativity.

4. “Alexa, open TikTok!”

Photo Credits: TikTok Dragons

In August 2020 TikTok has announced a new feature - a built-in voice assistant. To improve its users' experience, TikTok collaborated with Amazon and implemented a voice control functionality to the platform.

To make it function, the users have to firstly say a command “Alexa, open TikTok” to devices that are Alexa-enabled. Then, they can explore the app or create videos through voice commands. This feature makes TikTok a platform accessible for a wider audience and refines its usage for both creators and viewers.

5. Pinterest expands skin tone range for Try-On feature

Photo Credits: The Verge

Pinterest has recently upgraded its Pinterest shop which now includes a wider range of skin tones to amplify the search. It is also available for the try-on augmented reality feature.

In celebration of National Black Business Month, Pinterest has as well highlighted a range of Black-owned businesses in the fashion and beauty sector. Being confronted with racial issues in the past, now the platform is becoming more diverse and inclusive, encouraging donations and initiatives towards people of color.