Top 3 social media trends in 2022

1. TikTok

It wouldn’t be a social media trends post without the mention of TikTok. With more and more companies advertising and running accounts of their own, it seems that 2022 is going to be filled with entertaining short videos just like 2021. “Out of 4.8 billion internet users worldwide, 20.83% use TikTok. Out of 4.48 billion active social media users, 22.32% use TikTok on a regular basis” (Dean,2022). It’s no surprise why, TikTok is a great way for companies to interact with their consumers on a more intimate level, as well as advertise their products and services when customers and potential customers least expect it.

2. Influencers and creators

This is something we saw begin to gain traction in 2020, and it’s not slowing down anytime soon, with individuals able to make it into a full-time career. These creators hold so much influence and have such large audiences, companies are investing in them to promote their products and even collaborating with them so they can bring out their own products. It is a whole new eCommerce industry that is just getting started. They allow businesses that don’t have a strong online presence to be brought into a virtual space, to huge groups of potential consumers, without having to do anything but send boxes of their products to the correct creator. It is an easy, yet effective way for companies who aren’t online natives to enter the virtual space to a direct group of people who fit their target market – providing the correct influence is chosen.

3. Emphasis on digital burnout

Technology is what kept the world running throughout the pandemic, however, it also highlighted the issues with spending too much time in an online space. In comparison, not being able to switch off mentally and pressure to be constantly churning out content

some of the biggest issues that were faced. Companies and social media influencers have been focusing on and will continue to focus on promoting digital breaks and logging off, as well as shaping your algorithm to widen what information you are being fed and the type of content you are shown on sites, as a way of ‘popping your media bubble’. TikTok now shows a video when it thinks you have been active for too long and Instagram are experimenting with a “Take a Break” feature, which is being tested in the US, the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Taking care of your mental health isn’t a trend and is here to stay.

Written by Freya Fowler