The Post-COVID19 Social Media World

Introduction

This crisis highlights the strengths of social media. Particularly how it can be used for community connection and emotional support. 

“Just like we have seen with other crises, people all over the world have been reaching out to each other through social media to make sense of what is happening.”

We just need to look at the great content that has appeared organically during this time, from the great videos showing communities and streets banding together to support each other, to the Facebook groups for supporting NZ made, and the resources available for children to do online learning, so see examples of how people are banding together to support each other and enhance that sense of online community, support, and information sharing.  

Let us start with what Social Media is.

It is fundamentally about 3 main things.

1 - Sharing information; in your case sharing research.

2 – Reaching more people; it is an easier and faster way to connect with more people.

3 - Connecting people around the world, and it helps create a sense of community.

Let’s remember why it’s important

Humans are social and they are influenced by others, so social media is a powerful tool in sharing important messages.

We are in a time where people are more likely to seek information and advice online rather than in person, even more so now in the post Covid19 world. It is super important that people find accurate information in areas such as research, health information, nutrition. So social media is playing an increasingly critical role in people’s decisions and research.

Social helps to spread messages and awareness. Connecting with your audience and sharing your information and expertise to help a community is not just what we should focus on, it is almost a moral responsibility as people look to your expertise to educate them.

In this time when there is so much fake content and it is hard to tell what’s real and what’s not, the education aspect of social media becomes even more important. We will touch on this more below.

What are some key trends on social through Covid-19?

“Trust first”

During times of uncertainty, consumers turn to the people, organizations, and indeed the brands that they trust most. It’s naturally easier for individuals to continue to connect with their audience online but COVID-19, brands will need to work harder to recapture and strengthen consumer trust, in order to build long-term customer value and loyalty, and the number one way to generate trust with consumers is through shared, authentic experiences.

According to Nielsen Research, 92% of consumers trust earned media, like UGC, more than any other form of content.

We always knew it was about person-to-person and that people trust individuals’ recommendations way above brands, and this has just become even more evident in this time.

So, continue to be a personable, authentic voice, that connects directly with people and build a connection with your online communities.

“Perfect is OVER”

We are moving beyond the Instagram perfect world into a time where there is no travel shots or café food to pose with. Instead we are all at home, and we’ve shifted to a more ‘real’ content focus.

So, we are almost being made to relax and alter what we perceive as good or perfect content’ and instead I see people starting to embrace the ‘human’ element of ourselves and our lives.

Even brands should consider relaxing their definitions of ‘perfect content’ and become more personable and making an effort to show authenticity and foster a connection with their communities.

So that content doesn’t need to be perfect; it should primarily be helpful, relevant, and valuable.

“Dismantling the fa?ade”

Since most of humanity is now doing Zoom meetings in pajamas, sitting in their bedroom or lounge, with messy hair, with kids interrupting, we’ve discovered that we’re all real people, living real lives, and it’s about communicating this to our audiences. We have no choice but to embrace our human side again and just show ourselves and life as it is without the perfect ‘workplace face’.

We’ve seen this demonstrated by posts that have people jumping on a Facebook or Instagram live with no makeup, in their hoody, talking directly to the camera, getting more engagement than polished posts, and people are moving away from the staged ‘for the gram’ side of social media.

For individuals, realise that it’s OK to be real, show things how they are, show the behind the scenes messy gritty side of your work or your life, add a personal dimension to your content.

This approach certainly extends to brands, who I hope will all be moving to communicating more directly, honestly, and transparently with their audiences. 

In summary

Instead of self-glorifying content, brands and individuals alike will be forced to embrace the real community side of social media. More than ever, social media content should be user-centric and put the people first and provide education, information, and sharing value, over self-promotion.

Brands and individuals that can deliver relevant and considered content, and engage in conversations and provide helpful valuable information, relevant advice, or just make you laugh, will come out of the crisis stronger. 

Are there any major changes to the channels?

Shifting patterns between remote work and school, changes in primary device usage, and restrictions on activity have significantly changed how audiences interact with social over the course of just a few weeks. Audience behavior will continue to change dramatically. Below we look at each channel and how the usage has changed in the last couple of months. We will see how this will continue to evolve as we return to a bit more normality.

Channel Usage Changes

• Instagram & Stories is up 15%
• YouTube usage is up 15%
• LinkedIn usage is up 26%
• Facebook usage is up 27%
• Zoom, Tiktok, and Twitch are also all up.

Facebook and Instagram:

The way in which people use these two networks is changing. You are seeing more interactive content like challenges, workouts, and webinar-like content via live streams.

Instagram is no longer the place to show you living your best life, and, those days might be long gone anyway. May we see the return of people baking, sewing, and sharing more wellbeing-oriented content with a more ‘real’ spin.

Facebook’s use seems to be changing, too. People are seeing way more news shared on the platform than before. More new-focused is good – as long as that news is reliable and accurate.

People are still posting photos and notes about their families here, and even a lot more funny videos and memes, to share some laughs with people during what is a stressful time for many.

LinkedIn:

Those working from home will find themselves with more free time than they previously had. There’s no commuting time, no water cooler talk. Others will now find themselves needing to find a new job. So it’s natural that more of this downtime will go to time spent on LinkedIn to check up on colleagues and friends in the workplace, and it probably goes without saying, those who just lost their jobs will be all over LinkedIn.

Twitter:

Over the last few years, Twitter has been trending toward being an information platform. It is less about engagement and more about people using it to get information. We find it being used more and more for media coverage and more instantaneous information. And, with the COVID-19 outbreak, Twitter has become the go-to resource for real-time information from journalists and scientists.

So, has the use of any channels gone down?

Podcasts have had the biggest drop off in usage overall, by half! As 52% of people listen to a podcast while commuting, the loss of the daily commute has hit podcasters hard.

Are there any changes to peak times of activity on the channels?

For Facebook and Instagram, the best time of day to post has changed to 10-11 am. Weekends and weekdays after 5 pm still showed a significant drop-off, as remote workers juggle home and family.

Twitter usage has remained slightly more consistent pre- and post-COVID response. This may be due to the ongoing use of the platform as a way to quickly check news and spread useful information.

Since LinkedIn is a professionally-oriented network, it’s not surprising that behavior has remained largely similar, with the best times being between 9 am-12 pm.

And how about engagement levels?

Across all industries and networks, the number of posts sent per day remained about the same on average.

While engagement went up, incoming messages to brands decreased by 19 messages per day averaged across all networks.

Interactions on Twitter dropped across all industries. For Facebook, comments decreased across all industries except healthcare and media and entertainment.

Instagram was the only channel to have an increase in incoming messages, with an average increase of 6.4 comments per day. Only consumer goods, media & entertainment, and software were showing higher than average engagement.

But there has also been so much fake news…

“Another challenge with this pandemic is the rapid spread of misinformation, which makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it.”

We have seen social media at its best over the last 2 months and have seen where it’s best used and how powerful it is for creating and supporting global communities.

However there has also been more fake news, bots, and scared upset people sharing content, whether it’s true or not. This means now more than ever we each need to be more vigilant in terms of what we read and share.

This is where we need to be wary of the dark side of social media and its role in spreading fake news. Platforms have been slow in acknowledging their responsibility in helping platform users distinguish fake news from facts, but they are taking steps in the right direction.

Google has been actively trying to root out misinformation about coronavirus.

YouTube has been particularly hard hit with hoaxes suggesting ways to prevent the virus and ads seeking to capitalize on it, both of which the company has been working to block.

Instagram announced to only include COVID-19 related posts and stories in their recommendation section that are published by official health organizations.

In general, the advice is to crosscheck information that you get through social media with other information sources such as government websites and high-quality news outlets.

“There is a LOT of clutter and a lot of fake content. People can easily go into a black hole, and be sucked in by fake news, deep fakes, scams; it’s a minefield. But we need to get smarter about our use of it. It becomes about personal discernment and personal responsibility”

We also all have a role to play by not further spreading rumors through our social media accounts. Remember that social media is a tool. It can be a scary space, but all things can be good and bad – it is just about who is using it and how.

Social media is only as good as the integrity of the person using it, so it is about being smart and keeping yourself safe. And our use of this relatively new tool is still evolving, and we are still learning the rules and how to use it effectively, and safely.