According to a report from Ofcom, the UK’s media regulating body, social media site Facebook experienced a dip in popularity among the nation’s youth during the (more…)
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According to a report from Ofcom, the UK’s media regulating body, social media site Facebook experienced a dip in popularity among the nation’s youth during the (more…)
Posted by Alan Littler
An Apposphere study, which was carried out by Murphy Research and commissioned by picture messaging platform Snapchat, has revealed the key emotions, traits and attributes social media users associate with each of the major platforms.
The poll was conducted last summer and asked just over 1,000 British social media users aged between 13 and 44 how each platform makes them feel. To take part in the survey, users had to be considered ‘frequent users’, meaning that they used a certain app at least once a week. They were asked to give opinions on five major platforms – Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
A massive 95% of Snapchat users stated that the app made them feel happy. This reflects a number of independent studies that suggested social media has a positive effect on users’ moods. As well as making users feel happy, it also makes users feel silly, creative, adventurous, excited, playful, attractive, flirtatious, spontaneous and playful.
Photo sharing platform Instagram also received a lot of praise and positivity, with the app making users feel entertained, smart, inspired, attractive, flirtatious, creative, playful, adventurous and self-conscious.
The world’s largest video site, YouTube, conjured up feelings of being captivated, entertained, inspired, informed, creative, happy, curious, smart and excited.
However, some of the attributes put forward by survey participants reflect the concerns raised by various parties in recent times relating to the negative effects these sites can have on individuals, with attributes such as ‘guilty’, ‘isolated’ and ‘lonely’ being associated with both Facebook and Twitter. Many experts believe that social media can be addictive and prompt low self-esteem and isolation, especially in younger users.
As well as these feelings, Facebook was also attributed with the following mixed bag of emotions and feelings: overwhelmed, self-conscious, connected, entertained, curious and informed. Meanwhile, Twitter evoked the following sensations: anxious, depressed, self-conscious, overwhelmed, informed and flirtatious.
It would seem that two of the most successful and long-standing social media sites are evoking the most negativity in comparison to their younger counterparts.
As well as highlighting emotions, the survey also looked at how participants use the different social sites. It showed that Snapchat is an app where users can talk to their friends while sharing photos and videos about their day and play with various filters and lenses.
This compares with the likes of Twitter where users said they can follow discussions, news and current affairs, as well as sharing opinions on topics of interest. This can be considered the other end of the spectrum as the site is not really about interacting with friends, which can lead to feelings of isolation and depression, especially when negativity in the news and online feeds through into it.
Different social media sites are used for different purposes and as this survey shows, they can lead to users having different feelings about them. Therefore, can ‘social media’ in general really be deemed as addictive and negative, when users think this only applies to one or two platforms?
Posted by Alan Littler
Photo and video messaging platform Snapchat has announced that it will add a number of British shows and docu-series to its service in a bid to lure and retain users from the UK.
The company has entered into (more…)
Posted by Alan Littler
Statistics from a study conducted by Piper Jaffray, a US-based investment banking service, show that Snapchat has now been overtaken as the most used social networking site among American teenagers.
The study saw 8,600 teenagers asked questions about their social media usage and 85% stated that they used Instagram more than once a month. This slightly overtakes Snapchat, where 84% of participants stated they used it.
However, while Instagram may now be the most used platform among teenagers, it does not necessarily mean that it is the most popular. The two platforms switch places when participants were asked which of the platforms they preferred.
When asked which social platform was their favourite, 46% of those surveyed selected photo-messaging site Snapchat, in comparison to the 32% that stated Instagram was their favourite. This may be reassuring to Snapchat’s CEO Evan Spiegel and his team as the company’s efforts to address a fierce backlash it received after completely redesigning the app earlier this year seem to be working.
Whilst just under half of US teens surveyed may still prefer Snapchat, its engagement figures may tell a different story – one that suggests that Snapchat is an app in decline. Back in August, the company reported that the number of people using the app on a daily basis had dropped for the first time in its history. Furthermore, earlier this month, shares in the company hit a new low following comments made by one analyst that claimed Snapchat was running low on funds.
This is a contrast to Instagram, which is continuing to rise in popularity among users, marketers and advertisers, with the latter two resulting in increasing revenues for the Facebook-owned company.
In its report, Piper Jaffray highlighted that Instagram is showing dominance in selling, with teens preferring contact with their favourite brands through this platform than other channels.
The Piper Jaffray report follows a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, which was done on a smaller scale earlier this year. Back in April, it asked 750 US teenagers which platforms they used and 72% stated that they used Instagram, compared with 69% who used Snapchat.
In the UK, there is a difference in user preference. Ofcom published two studies that examined two different age groups, the 16-24s and the 12-15s. According to its figures, both groups preferred Snapchat over Instagram in terms of usage. However, as the regulator is due to publish updated figures on the younger demographic in the next month, there could still be a change.
Posted by Alan Littler
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