We live in a world governed by trends. Almost nobody can imagine going a day without having a peek at the social media platforms. Evident as it is, social media platforms have become an unavoidable and indispensable part of our lives. It has changed the way we receive news, share what we are up to, socialize, and basically the way we live altogether. It has now become a part of every moment of our lives everywhere. Nobody can deny that we have all become social media addicts. It has somehow proved itself as the most effective way of creating a good image in our social circle. Accompanied by a little bragging once in a while.
Social media started growing exponentially since 2004– 7.7 billion people in the world and 3.5 billion are now online. It is still growing as we speak with “MySpace” which is the first-ever social media site to reach a million active users mark in that year. The reason being the countless features, the improvement in the optimized possibility of accessing them. Diverse opportunities provided to the users like a platform to communicate with anybody, anywhere, anytime.
Social media marketing has also become a vital tool for building brands, driving audience engagement or traffic, and increasing sales. It has become a transforming marketing strategy- catering to your audience in a way that helps your work in getting recognition or kicking off the business. Each one of them wants to build durable brands, become influencers, want the work to go viral, and reach as many people as possible to garner reposts, likes, sales, and whatnot.
Let’s look at some top social media statistics, giving great insights into the evolving world of social media-
A comparison between different social media platforms
Messenger applications have gained a place in the hearts of a lot of people. With the growth of social media platforms like Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, etc. Some platforms may not be that famous or well-known for a layman yet the facts tell otherwise. For instance, Reddit is not discussed as much as Pinterest or Twitter but has more monthly active users as compared to them.
What are almost all these social media platforms about? What decides which user is doing better on these platforms than the others? The number of followers or subscribers that like their content or work. In the race to earn more likes and followers, bragging, when done humbly, goes the long run and is not a bad idea. But the moment it turns into unabashed boasting, it forms a bad impression. After all, it is all about “sharing about our authentic selves”.
Facebook has been the most widely used platform for a decade now. Shaping the social media landscape surpassing the one billion active user mark in 2012 itself and becoming the first-ever social network to achieve that. It is popular among people of all age groups. And has a huge global reach and over 2.32 billion active users.
While Instagram has made quite a record in the stories section. They keep adding new features to make them interesting and interactive like polls, questions, music, etc. All the people on almost all these platforms form a virtual image of people, who they do not know personally, on the basis of the content they produce. And that lays the groundwork for their reputation introducing the concept of bragging.
“We want to be strategically memorable, in ways that benefit us.”- Kristi Hedges.
The reason behind social media platforms being such a hit is that they constantly update and add features to keep their users engaged and happy. For example- Twitter did not provide the feature of uploading images or videos until the year 2011 and now more than 50% of content on Twitter comprises of videos and images.
Moreover, call it bragging but when people share something worth appreciating, it gives them the sense of being successful. And also, it inspires other people to do something great as well to share with people just the way they did. A person bragging about his good diet and workout results boosts other people to pull up their socks and start working. And there is absolutely no harm one can find if bragging is perceived with the right approach.
A report from Ofcom (UK) states that there is a decline in Facebook use by younger demographics, while it increased for Instagram. Also, the steep “age gradient” tells that 73% of people under 25 years of age use Snapchat while only 3% of people over the age of 65 years use it. The major reason being, Snapchat is all about sharing what you are up to. Bragging about your interesting lifestyle and maintaining streaks with your friends. Thus stay connected to them on a daily basis as well. This is more popular among youngsters as compared to adults. Who is more likely to check social media platforms for news and other relevant updates going on in the world.
Conclusion
The possibility of the growth of different platforms is uncertain and tricky. As social behaviors change drastically and the social media landscape keeps evolving.
A lot has changed with the outbreak of coronavirus and the worldwide pandemic in terms of surging and lacking social media platforms during this sensitive time. There is not much to brag about as long as a happy and adventurous lifestyle is concerned. Yet, usage of Twitter, Zoom, Tiktok, Twitch, LinkedIn, and Instagram has gone up for getting recent updates. Checkup on colleagues, looking for work from home jobs, video calls/meetings, news or simply passing time.
This is proof concrete enough that as much as social media is linked to bagging, it is not just bragging that drives them. Apparently, there is more than meets the eye. When you are going for an awesome experience in your life be it career-wise or others, you keep people posted about it. Yet, nobody can undermine the fact that it is not a judgment parameter of how well you’re doing in your life. Bragging is all about keeping people updated. Get a little appreciation and support from the audience. Motivation to do better and inspiring others. It is more about “sharing” and not “showing off” and challenges that allow you to do more. If a little humble-bragging once in a while keeps people going, then there is no harm in it.
It’s your life, shine and spread your glitter like confetti!
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Source: https://www.oberlo.in/blog/social-media-marketing-statistics
