59.4% of the world population uses social networks and the incorporation of AI in the sector will be key in the future. These are two of the most outstanding conclusions of the Social Networks report: current status and trends 202 3, directed by Professor Santiago Giménez and published by OBS Business School with the purpose of providing a complete and updated vision of the world of social networks and their impact. in different aspects of society.
Approximately 5,160 million people have an Internet connection, of which 4,760 million are users of social networks (94.9% of the Internet population). This figure grows by 3% annually and already accounts for 59.4% of the world population. Most of the users are in Western countries and Asia; In fact, Northern Europe is the area that makes the most use (83.6% of Internet users), Central and Western Europe 83.3%, and North America 73.9%. 53.7% of network users are men, while 46.3% are women, and the vast majority are between 20 and 39 years of age.
The average daily time spent on social networks is 2 hours and 31 minutes and is clearly increasing, although the statistics change according to age and gender: women aged 16-24 lead the daily use of social networks with a average time of 3 hours and 11 minutes a day.
Facebook remains the most used social platform in the world, however YouTube is rapidly closing the gap with its audience growing twice as high (2.51 billion active users). The third most used platform is WhatsApp, followed by Instagram, whose audience has increased by more than 35.3% (522 million users).
Tik Tok also has 5.1% more users than last year, a rapid rise due to its popularity among millennials and Generation Z. However, this is a network under scrutiny in different states for the large amount of data that accumulates, something that, in the hands of certain countries, could be a problem.
In fact, the Netherlands is limiting its use to certain government employees. Santiago Giménez opines: "It is true that most social networks carry out the same practice, but being Western there seems to be less concern about how they use the data." TikTok has also been criticized for its great potential to generate addiction.
For its part, China has blocked Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and, although they are not prohibited, access to these platforms is not carried out in the normal way. It is an economic and political war that highlights the strength and potential that social networks have today, often used as tools for the organization, mobilization and dissemination of social and political causes, as occurred during the Arab Spring. or the Me Too movement.
Social networks attract 42% of traffic to e-commerce and 17% of purchases are made through them. That is why the trend is to integrate e-commerce functions into the network itself to allow users to buy products without having to access other sites.
Other current trends are the publication of ephemeral content, the increasing use of video, personalization and the integration of augmented reality filters. Virtual reality is developing rapidly and is expected to become more integrated into social media, allowing users to immerse themselves in shared virtual environments. But, without a doubt, the change that will most mark the networks in the future will be the incorporation of AI, especially for customer service and interaction with users. AI systems are expected to be able to autonomously generate content, which would have a significant impact on content production and the way it is consumed.
The report also reflects that social networks generate income through advertising, collaborations with brands, the promotion of products and services and the sale of data. Investment in social networks already represents 33.9% of total advertising spending in the digital area.
