Social media is an ever-evolving landscape. Over the past year, we’ve seen the launch of new platforms and controversy around old staples. For brands looking to take advantage of social media’s reach, knowing where to put their effort and money is important. Let’s look at the state of social media as we move into 2024. Which ones are still strong, and which ones are lagging?
Generational Gaps
When it comes to social media use, age matters. We’re going to talk about the sites that are rising, falling, and staying the same, but you want to pay attention to the age trends. Users who enjoy using sites now are likely to continue using them as they age. This means that sites with higher usage among older demographics are likely to see a decline in the future as those users pass on. Does that mean those platforms are doomed? Not necessarily, but it does mean we’re likely to see future changes and shakeups in those platforms as they begin to lose those older users.
Percent of users by platform for age groups:
18-29: Instagram 32%, TikTok 35%, Snapchat 41%
30 – 39: Twitter/X & LinkedIn 34%, Snapchat 33%, Instagram 32%
40 – 49: LinkedIn 25%, Facebook 22%, Twitter/X 21%
50+: Facebook 29%, LinkedIn & Pinterest 24%
What Sites Are Gaining or Holding Strong for 2024?
While someone always says, “Facebook is dying,” the platform is still going strong. Statista reports that the platform is growing in usage, while Pew Research is more conservative, showing flat growth since 2016. However, with 3 in 10 Americans, according to Pew, stating that they receive news from Facebook, that demonstrates the continued relevance of the site, which is important for growth. While Facebook is more popular among older users than younger ones, it’s likely that younger users will adopt it to stay in contact with parents and grandparents, who are less likely to use the social media apps younger people use.
TikTok, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest are all likely to see continued growth in 2024 as well. For Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat, this is due, in part, to the younger users of the platforms. As teens age into social media, these are primarily the sites they’re turning to because they’re popular among influencers and the younger “olds” ahead of them. Meanwhile, LinkedIn’s growth is tied to job searches and professional networking, meaning that as young people age up into the workforce, they’ll adopt the social media platform out of necessity.
The Elon in the Room
While every other social media platform shows projected growth in 2024, Twitter/X continues to be in decline. Like its competitor Facebook, Twitter/X was often met with the “is dying” discourse, and that was true for several years, up until 2019. From 2019 to 2022, Twitter saw an increase in users year after year, especially during the turbulent years of the Covid 19 pandemic.
So, what changed?
In late 2022, Elon Musk bought Twitter and began rolling out a number of changes, including cuts in Twitter’s workforce (resulting in poorer moderation), changing the method used for verifying users and bringing back a number of controversial accounts that had been banned from the platform. Since his takeover, the site has seen a decline in users. While revenue is up compared to 2022, this is due largely to the introduction of Twitter Blue. Ad revenue is down, which indicates that user engagement is falling with the decline in users overall.
Looking Forward to 2024
What do these numbers mean? For brands looking to increase their visibility and presence, most social media platforms, except Twitter/X, will be good investments of money and time. However, it’s important that brands pay attention to their target demographics and where that intersects with age. While platforms like TikTok and Snapchat are showing huge growth currently, for brands whose demographics trend older, these sites aren’t necessarily the best for investing time and energy in creating content.
When it comes to social media, you don’t go where the users are; you go where your users are.