How has Corona Virus (COVID-19) affected social media?
It’s been over a year since Corona Virus started spreading across the world, which turned our lives upside down. We started working from home, went through three lockdowns and zoom quizzes were born. However, things are looking up with the vaccination rolling out and businesses starting to re-open here in England. Even more exciting – we can soon start to hug our friends and family.
In this blog, we will take a closer look at how COVID-19 is making its presence known and changing the way people and companies engage in social media.
- Increased use of social media
In a recent report by Statshot,[2] social media growth has accelerated significantly since the outbreak of COVID-19.
Social media user numbers increased by more than 13 percent over the past year, with nearly half a billion new users taking the global user total to almost 4.2 billion by the start of 2021.
On average, more than 1.3 million new users joined social media every day during 2020, equating to roughly 15½ new users every single second.
Since consumers are more[3] present online more than ever, their shopping habits have changed according to J.P.Morgan. “In the data earlier this year, you could see flat growth followed by a huge spike – double digit growth. That is very rare for this industry and was totally prompted by the lockdown and the fact that people couldn’t get out,” said Celine Pannuti, Head of European Staples and Beverages Research at J.P Morgan. Consumers are now online shopping more than they ever did before[4] , double digit growth which is incredible! As well as an increased use of social media as they aren’t going out as much as they used to. Consumers are using the likes of Zoom calls, What’s App and all the popular social media apps to stay connected virtually.
2. Let’s help each other – the power of social media
A lot of us usually associate social media primarily with inspiration and consumption, however, a clear trend we are seeing in the current situation is that social media can serve as a platform for people to help one another. Through social media, we see a trend of influencers and businesses sharing free advice, a simply thank you to key workers and expertise to problems that have come up in connection with the spread of the virus. The importance of brands showing they care and being part of the local community highlighted in a Sprout Social report [5]
McDonald’s was one of the first brands to respond to Corona Virus through their social media accounts. McDonald’s Brazil posted an image of their famous logo on their Facebook page with the famous golden arches pulled apart to support social distancing.
Coca Cola has created an array of posts around social distancing on social media. Using the classic Coca Cola bottle, the brand wanted to thank all of the hard-working professionals as well as remind everyone to stay home.
Another powerful and caring social media campaign was by Tesco. “Pop to your local if you can.” To support pubs here in the UK, after they’ve had a tough year since the outbreak of the Corona Virus.
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