Social Media: Important Social Media Trends of Note for 2023

As we all know, social media usage behaviors are constantly changing, in subtle ways that may take a while to become obvious, thus in fast-moving shifts, these changes become rapidly the norm.

After the arrival of the TikTok platform, the usage of short-form videos became the key trend across all social media platforms and it has expanded social media engagement. That’s also has amplified a more significant change, in people using social media platforms for entertainment over connection.

Previously, people had been excited to share their personal details and updates on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, thus the increasingly divisive nature of social media applications has driven people to worry about sharing their thoughts in public, which has led to an increase in users creating more intimate DM groups, while using their social media feeds to consumer and discover new content.

These are some of the major shifts that are altering the social media landscape, and which all social media marketers need to be aware of, however, what are some of the key trends of note in 2023?

Social media today runs polls with audiences on different platforms to get a sense of how they feel about key updates and changes in the social media sphere. In this article, we will have a look at some of the most recent polls made by Social Media Today, and how they relate to the evolving trends of today.

To begin with, polls on social apps are not always indicative, and will generally weigh more towards the platform you’re running them on. For instance, if you run a poll about LinkedIn on LinkedIn (like the one below), you’re likely going to see a bigger swing in favor of the host platform, however, the results can still reflect broader trends, depending on the context.

As a first key point, we will address how and why more people are using LinkedIn.

Last week, Social Media Today ran a poll on LinkedIn to get a sense of how people are using the app in 2023.

As you can see, based on 2,433 responses, the vast majority claim to be using LinkedIn “more” or “a lot more” this year.

As noted, this will be somewhat biased, because Social Media Today asked the question on LinkedIn, so of course, people who are active on LinkedIn are more likely to see it. But it also aligns with LinkedIn’s own data insights. Last month, LinkedIn reported that the sharing of original content in the app increased by 41% year-over-year in 2022. It’s also continued to rise this year, with LinkedIn reporting “record levels” of engagement within parent company Microsoft’s quarterly reports. Thus, LinkedIn is clearly doing something right, while it may also be benefiting from an increase in usage as some communities migrate away from Elon Musk’s X.

The second platform that they recently asked the audience about is the X platform formerly known as Twitter, which its name change remains unpopular, and advertisers remain wary about it. Recently, during their research, they asked users how their in-app experience has been this year.

According to Social Media Today:

‘’In 2023,  people’s experience on X has been:

— Social Media Today (@socialmedia2day) September 12, 2023

While the most popular single experiential response was “worse”, on balance, the majority of respondents indicated that their experience on X has either improved or remained the same this year (36.5% of responses). There were only 184 responses, so it’s a very small subset of X users, and as such, it may not be indicative. However, it does provide some measure of how users are seeing the re-named app, with most people seeing X as fairly similar to what it has been in the past, even with the more recent changes.’’

However, the main point of note here is that most people still view the app as “Twitter”, no matter what its new name might be. Eventually, this shift indicates that the re-brand will be an ongoing evolution, as most users are habitually aligned with “Twitter” and “tweets,” as opposed to “X” and “posts.”

In addition, most brands are still hesitant to wade back into the X waters.

As you can see in the above image, based on almost 1,500 responses to a LinkedIn poll, the feedback is overwhelmingly against X ads right now.

That directly aligns with recent statements from Elon Musk, in which he noted that U.S. ad spending on X is down 60% year-over-year, a decrease from the 50% decline in U.S. brand spending that he reported back in April. 

Elon’s controversial personal stances, and X’s changing approaches to moderation, still have many marketers spooked, and it’ll be interesting to see whether Musk changes course in this respect, as ad spending remains down, or if X can broaden its income streams, through other options, to counter these declines.

The third and last one is the Instagram platform. Instagram still remains hugely popular, despite replicating other app features.

Based on a LinkedIn poll, which received more than 3,200 responses, Instagram is the platform that people are still using more often.

Further, other polls indicate that TikTok is the most popular app among younger audiences, while there’s also a limited set of options to include in a LinkedIn poll, so it could be that YouTube would be higher than some on this list also.

Nonetheless from these four options, among Social Media Today’s audience on LinkedIn, Instagram remains the most popular app, which is a bit of a surprise given the aforementioned platform bias of such polls. This could also be viewed as an endorsement of Instagram’s replication efforts, which many have criticized, but can be an effective way to keep its users from drifting off to other apps.

Instagram’s replication of Snapchat Stories, killed Snapchat’s growth in 2017, forcing Snap to re-align its efforts, while many IG users have now stayed loyal to the app, as opposed to downloading TikTok and adding another platform into their mix.

Replicating features may be viewed by some as a cheap tactic, but the results speak for themselves, and I would suggest that the rise of Reels has had a big impact on keeping at least some user groups aligned with IG, instead of using TikTok.

Everything literally depends on your audience, and which platforms work best for you. Recent research that more youngsters are active on TikTok, but Reels is like a more adult-friendly version, so if you’re targeting older users (25+), maybe Instagram is where you should be focused on.

The above polls are indicative of some of the smaller engagement shifts happening within social media circles which could weigh into your planning heading into the end of the year. It is worth it to take note of what the polls highlight, still, it’s also important to consider the audience response to each when considering such results.

Source: Social Media Today

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