The year 2022 is halfway over, so it’s time to look at some of the most popular social media trends that have been brought to us so far. While these methods aren’t necessarily new to the digital world, social media platforms have innovated and expanded these concepts to become some of the most widely-used tactics on social media this year, giving brands big results. Here are some of 2022’s biggest social media trends so far:
- Short-form video
It’s no doubt we think of TikTok when it comes to short-form videos on social media. TikTok launched the popularity of short video clips back in 2020, and other social platforms have since followed in its footsteps. We have now seen Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts be released in 2020 and 2021, which have both adopted similar short-video practices once it was realized that they were catching, and keeping, the attention of audiences. Now in 2022, the platforms that utilize short-form video have seen great success with this addition, such as Instagram changing its layout several times to mimic TikTok’s platform.
- In-app shopping
Almost all major social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, and Snapchat, now have features where users can directly shop from the app itself. In Hootsuite’s 2022 Social Media Trends Survey, it found that younger social users use social media to research products and brands before using search engines. Shopping via social media apps has proven convenient, preferrable, and fun, causing the social commerce industry to be worth a hefty $80 billion by 2025.
- Influencer groups
While influencers on social media have gained popularity over the last several years, this year has shown dominant usage of influencer groups. Instead of just using a single influencer to promote a brand, marketers are now using a network of niche influencers to represent brands as a whole. This option provides much higher engagement for a lesser cost, and it can be argued that it is much cheaper than running a paid advertising campaign or signing a single influencer. Using a small group of influencers has also skyrocketed this year due to the diversity that using several people can bring to a brand, therefore attracting more audiences.
- Paid posts
If you’ve noticed an increase in paid and sponsored advertisements on social media, you aren’t alone. Hootsuite found from its 2022 Social Media Trends survey that over 40% of respondents stated that due to the decrease in organic reach on social media, they, therefore, needed to spend more on paid advertising this year compared to others. This increase in paid advertisements goes hand-in-hand with the increase in social shopping, showing just how influential platforms can be on buying habits.
- Accessibility
This year has shown great advances when it comes to accessibility on social media. As society is becoming more knowledgeable and accommodating, the digital world is following. Whether it’s closed captions, photo descriptions, screen readers, or much more – this year social media platforms and apps have prioritized updates and features for just about any need that someone might have.
The remaining months of 2022 will continue to show us what’s in store for social media features that are waiting to be rolled out. Social media is always evolving, so it can be anticipated that many innovative updates are still in the making. We can’t wait to see what the rest of 2022 will bring us!
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