2021 has come to an end, on a global scale, digital has gained momentum . For example these few figures that say a lot …
- 4.55 billion social media users worldwide, an increase of over 400 million additional members in the past 12 months. That’s the equivalent of 13 new members every second!
- 4.88 billion Internet users or 61.8% of the world population
- 54.56% of web traffic is via mobile
- 57.8% of internet users aged 16 to 64 say they bought a product or service online in the past week.
- 95.8% of internet users of working age use social networks
More than ever, digital technology is breaking into everyday life and is becoming essential for communication, whether on social networks , on messaging applications or on collaborative platforms, essential in the context of hybrid work.
Whether it is for shares, content viewed, messages sent or even purchases made online, the figures show a clear increase after the pandemic.
Source: We are social / Hootsuite / BDM
The most used social networks in 2021
It’s no surprise that Facebook keeps its 1st place in the ranking.
Then comes YouTube then WhatsApp and 2nd and 3rd place.
Instagram is in 4th place and Tik Tok in 7th.
Tik Tok announced in September 2021 that it exceeded one billion monthly active users . About the advertisements on this platform, it is not less than 10% of the world’s population that is affected , regardless of age or place of residence, with the exception of China, which has a separate application (Douyin) and India, where the social network no is not available.
With over 120 million users aged 18 and over, the United States is TikTok ‘s largest advertising audience.
- TikTok: 167 million videos viewed,
- Instagram: 65,000 photos shared,
- Twitter: 575,000 tweets posted,
- Facebook: 240,000 photos published and 44 million live views viewed.
Most downloaded applications in 2021
And it is in this category that the surprise is size: TikTok, the most downloaded application in 2021 . T ikTok would have obtained more traffic than Google in the year 2021 to become the most popular domain in the world, according to the Year in Review 2021 ranking established by Cloudflare.
It takes first place in the ranking ahead of Google, Facebook and Microsoft. The Chinese application is making the best progress, going from 7th place in 2020 to 1st in 2021.
However, GAFAMs still dominate the top 10 in this ranking of the most downloaded applications:
- TikTok
- Microsoft
- Apple
- Amazon
- Netflix
- Youtube
The Smartphone: the most popular medium
Android users around the world are now spending over 4 hours a day using their phones.
In total, this means that Android users have spent over 3.5 trillion cumulative hours on their phones in the past 12 months.
The population now spends more time on their cellphones than in front of traditional TV.
Cell phones now represent 53% of the time the world spends online , it is the most used device in all countries to go on the Internet.
The rise of e-commerce
The pandemic has prompted consumers around the world to turn to online shopping.
Globally, nearly 77% of internet users aged 16 to 64 say they buy online every month.
The travel industry has been hit hard by the crisis, with revenue generated online down 50% compared to last year. Food and personal care are the 2 fastest growing industries online.
Web trends in 2022
According to our source ” Hootsuite ” and ” We Are Social “, the 10 trends to watch closely for this new year 2022 are:
- The evolution of brand search and discovery , with increasingly diverse and fragmented online search behaviors
- Intercultural content , accessible to Internet users all over the world and the improvement of online translation tools
- Cross-border electronic commerce , with the emergence of “small national markets”
- Shopping as an experience , with experimentation with new e-commerce formats
- Regulation and corporate activism , with the strengthening of legal and ethical considerations in 2022
- The impact of digital transformation , which should affect in particular the education, health and consumer credit sectors
- Cybersecurity , to find solutions to a growing number of computer attacks that target not only individuals, but also companies, sovereign countries and even ideologies
- Disruptive interfaces, through new augmented reality glasses that players such as Facebook and Apple should soon launch
- From destination to integration, moving away from screen-based interfaces to promote a wider choice of integrated uses through connected technology
- The challenge for digital professionals : not to focus solely on the future in order to stay focused and perform in the present.