In 2015, social media platforms continued to grow significantly, with Instagram surpassing Twitter in user count and Pinterest becoming the fastest-growing network. Mobile access to social media increased, with 65% of traffic coming from mobile devices, emphasizing the importance for platforms to be mobile-friendly. Trends included a rise in multi-platform usage, a focus on customer service, and growing user demand for better privacy and genuine engagement from brands.

1. SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS 2015
Frank E. Parcells, Ph. D., Professor of Communication
@ Austin Peay State University
Email: ParcellsF@APSU.edu

2. A GLOBAL DIGITAL
SNAPSHOT IN 2015

3. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA GROWTH
TRENDS ENTERING 2015
 The social media continue their fierce
growth patterns adding users daily
throughout the world.
 Pinterest was the fastest growing social
network in 2014 as it reached 200-million
active users last year.
 Globally the social network to watch is
Instagram which recently surpassed Twitter in
the total worldwide user count and has
increased its user base by 23% is just the past
three months.
 Google+ enjoys a much better social
networking site growth rate than most realize
ranking at 540-million active users today.
• Facebook has over
1.15 billion users
today.
• Twitter has over 650-
million worldwide
users.
• Google+ has over
550-million active
total user accounts.
• YouTube has over 1-
billion active monthly
users today.
• LinkedIn has 380-
million users today.

4. SOCIAL MEDIA USER
TRENDS FOR 2015
 Multi-platform use is on the rise: 52% of online adults
now use two or more social media sites, a significant
increase from 2014, when it stood at 42% of internet
users.
 For the first time, more than half of all online adults 65
and older (56%) use Facebook. This represents 31% of
all seniors.
 For the first time, roughly half of internet-using young
adults ages 18-29 (53%) use Instagram. And half of all
Instagram users (49%) use the site daily.
 For the first time, the share of Internet users with
college educations using LinkedIn is over 50%.
 Women dominate Pinterest: 42% of online women
now use the platform, compared with 13% of online
men.

5. THE TIME SPENT ON SOCIAL
MEDIA CHANNELS IN 2015

6. TODAY’S SOCIAL MEDIA
LANDSCAPE

7. 2015 SOCIAL MEDIA
CHANNEL USER FACTS
 74% of online adults use social networking
sites.
 40% of smartphone owners use a social
networking site on their phone.
 71% of online adults use Facebook.
 28% of online adults use Pinterest.
 28% of online adults use LinkedIn.
 26% of online adults use Instagram.
 23% of online adults use Twitter.

8. MOBILE USE OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA
CHANNELS INCREASES IN 2015

9. Social Media & Mobile
Technology
• Social media via mobile technology
started quite a few years back and is
expected to continue its growth
through 2015 as well.
• More and more people are going to
access social media through their
mobile devices, and recent trends
show that the rise in the number of
users who use only mobile to access
social media has been much more
than those using any other forms of
devices.
• Social media platforms are
expected to make their services
more mobile-friendly.
• A number of new apps for the social
media platforms are expected to
emerge and these will make it easier
for the users to access social media,
no matter where they are.

10. HERE’S A PROFILE OF SOCIAL
MEDIA USERS IN 2015

11. CHECK OUT EACH OF THE
PROMINENT SOCIAL MEDIA
CHANNELS

12. THE MAJOR SOCIAL
MEDIA TRENDS OF 2015
 A greater emphasis on online customer services
exists in the social media today.
 More and more very specialized niche social
networks are developing online.
 There is much buzz in the social media about
wearable tech (watches, etc.) enabling more and
more social media chat.
 Lot’s of user desire to build relationships with vloggers
(video bloggers) online.
 User desires highlight a desire for greater social
media privacy protection.
 Social media users want more caring and less selling
on social media networks.

13. THE MAJOR SOCIAL
MEDIA TRENDS OF 2015
 The chances are great that 2015 will bring even
more anonymous social media like those launched
in 2014 (Whisper and Secret).
 Businesses will finally get it and stop pitching and
begin to relate to their customer base through the
social networks.
 “Buy” buttons are likely to become a frequent
faceplate in both Twitter and Facebook as both
have tested their use throughout 2014.
 Short videos in the social media will become
increasingly favored options by users.
 All of the social media will be more and more
designed for use on mobile devices like smartphones
and tablets.

14. THE IMPACT OF THE SOCIAL
MEDIA ON SOCIETY IN 2015
 Do social networking sites isolate
people and worsen their relationships
or do they actually enhance and
stimulate relationships?
 Social networking sites are
increasingly used to keep up with
close social ties
 The average user of a social
networking site has more close ties
and is half as likely to be socially
isolated as the average American
 Facebook users are more trusting
than others
 Facebook users have more close
relationships
 Internet users get more support
from their social ties and
Facebook users get the most
support.
 Facebook users are much more
politically engaged than most
people.
 Facebook revives “dormant”
relationships.
 MySpace users are more likely to
be open to opposing points of
view.
 Audio and video will dominate
social media marketing in 2015.
 More and more social media users
will pay to play in online gaming
with others.

15. HERE’S SOME YEAR-TO-YEAR
INTERESTING DIGITAL MEDIA STATS
FOR 2015
NOTE PARTICULARLY THE MOBILE USER SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS
INCREASE AS WELL AS THE RISE IN ACTIVE INTERNET USERS

16. THE MOST ACTIVE SOCIAL
MEDIA CHANNELS IN 2015
ACTIVE SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS
ACROSS THE WEB FOR 2015

17. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS IN
MEMBERS AND ACTIVE USERS FOR 2014

18. KEY SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE
FACTORS IN 2015
 The size of the social media network still
matters.
 Social media channel growth dynamics
offer surprises across the board for
businesses like B2B, B2C, nonprofit, and solo
entrepreneurs. LinkedIn’s the winner for
business pros.
 Social media usage extends across multiple
networks.
 The average social media user has 5.54 different
accounts.
 16 to 24 year olds have an average of 6.6
different accounts.
 24 to 36 year olds use the most different social
networks for an average of 4.2 channels.

19. KEY SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE
FACTORS IN 2015
 Social media usage extends across
multiple networks.
 8% of Internet users visited Facebook,
YouTube, Twitter, and Google+ in the past
month.
 One third of Internet users visited YouTube,
Facebook, and Twitter in the past month.
 90% of Facebook visitors also visit YouTube and
almost half visited Twitter in the past month.
 Social media activity moves to apps.
 Participation motivation powers social
media behavior.

20. SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNEL
CHOICE & USAGE BY AGE
GROUP ONLINE FOR 2015

21. ESTIMATED SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNEL
GROWTH IN 2015 & 2016

22. REAL TIME MARKETING IS BEING
REDEFINED & SOCIAL MEDIA
SPENDING ON INCREASE IN 2015

23. LET’S TAKE A CLOSE LOOK AT
THE USERS OF FACEBOOK
 Looking demographics of Internet
users, we find that Facebook skill
skews strongly toward women.
 Facebook is the top social network
for teens in the U. S.
 Instagram has edged out both
Facebook & Twitter in terms of
prestige among young users.
 Twitter us leaning slightly toward
male users.
 LinkedIn is more popular than
Twitter among U. S. adults.
 YouTube reaches more 18 to 49
year old adults than any single
cable TV network.

24. COMPARING FACEBOOK &
TWITTER AS SOCIAL NETWORKS

25. COMPARING FACEBOOK &
TWITTER AS SOCIAL NETWORKS

26. COMPARING FACEBOOK &
TWITTER AS SOCIAL NETWORKS

27. COMPARING INSTAGRAM,
FACEBOOK, & YOUTUBE

28. REACHING SOCIAL MEDIA
USERS IN DIFFERING CHANNELS

29. SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS FOR 2015
IMPACTING CONSUMERS
 Social media continue to
propel consumer spending.
 Friends will influence your
spending through the social
media.
 New social media networks
will rise; watch Yik Yak and
Ello.
 Advertising on Facebook &
Twitter becomes an essential
of social media marketing
mix.
 Image-based social media
will be most influence buying
habits.
 Publishing on LinkedIn will
increase in popularity.
 Content marketing will remain
an effective social media ad
tool.
 Social media will continue to
drive customer service.
 Marketing to millennials in the
social media becomes
essential.
 The purchasing power of
minorities will increase in the
social media.

30. WHEN USING THE SOCIAL
MEDIA CHANNELS IN 2015
 As a communicator
using multiple social
media channels:
 Engage your audience by
being genuine, generous,
and grateful.
 Honesty through
genuineness.
 Generous by asking for their
opinions in the social media.
 Grateful by rewarding them
by giving them something
in return for their help.

31. SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE IN 2015
ACROSS CHANNELS

32. THE TOP 5 REASONS WHY PEOPLE
FOLLOW BRANDS IN SOCIAL MEDIA

33. USER FEELINGS ABOUT BRANDS IN
THE SOCIAL MEDIA
SOCIAL MEDIA
ADOPTION OF
TOP BRANDS

34. WEB USERS INCLUDE SOCIAL
MEDIA WHEN MAKING PURCHASE
DECISIONS ONLINE

35. VIDEO THRU SOCIAL
MEDIA RULES IN 2015
Social Media Video

36. TWITTER LAUNCHES A BETA
VERSION OF VIDEO ADS
 Twitter has recently launched
a beta version of their
Promoted Video Ads service,
taking a huge marketing step
to encourage marketers into
focusing on online video
promotion.
 Vine is Twitters micro-video
service with 6-second
promoted video ads.
 Promoted Video Ads allow
video promotion on Twitter for
the first time ever, offering
great video analytics through
a pay-per-click system.

37. TWITTER: FROM VINE VIDEO
TO VINE FOR KIDS APP
 On January 30, 2015, Twitter
launched its new Vine Kids,
a separate stand-alone
video sharing tool aimed at
children.
 Twitter said the new app is
meant to be a place full of
short videos appropriate for
kids to watch.
 Vine Kids is available only for
Apple iOS, and no word on
if or when it will be coming
for Android.

38. GOOGLE ENAHCNES ITS YOUTUBE
VIDEO ADWORDS WITHOUT GOOGLE
 Google’s made its marketing
move on YouTube by
enhancing its Video
AdWords just on YouTube.
 This new ads update allows
YouTube video marketers to
gather and handle their own
analytics data right within
YouTube rather than having
to go to Google’s AdWords.
 Social media video
marketing is on its way to
even better storytelling
success.
Explainer videos explain any product in
under 2-minutes while Screencast videos
(below) showcase how a product works.

39. SOCIAL MEDIA ARE A BIG DEAL
ON MOBILE DEVICES IN 2015
 Social apps are a very big
deal with mobile devices
like smartphones and
tablets today.
 65% of social network traffic
is from mobile devices in
2015.
 What does this mean?
 Online users first choice is to
access the social media
channels via mobile devices.
 Web designers MUST take
mobile device websites
seriously using responsive
design.

40. MOBILE DEVICE ACCESS OF
SOCIAL MEDIA BY GENDER

41. SOCIAL MEDIA ACCESS FOR
MOBILE TABLET USERS

42. e-COMMERCE CONVERTS TO
s-COMMERCE FOR THE SOCIAL
MEDIA NETWORKS IN 2015
 Among the biggest trends in social media is e-commerce over the social
networks [social or s-commerce].
 More and more social media networks are developing means by which to
handle payments within their own channels.
 Simply put, the shorter the path to payment conversion, the greater
chance that the transaction takes place.
 Such social networks as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Snapchat are
working with s-commerce in 2015.

43. PROS AND CONS OF THE SOCIAL
NETWORK CHANNELS IN 2015

44. LOOKING AT SOCIAL MEDIA USE
BY THE NUMBERS COMPARED TO
MORE TRADITIONAL MEDIUMS

45. PRIMARY REASONS OF USE FOR
THE VARIOUS SOCIAL MEDIA
CHANNELS IN 2015

46. THE VARIOUS SOCIAL MEDIA
CHANNELS IN 2015 & THEIR
PRIMARY PURPOSES

47. WHAT’S YOUR OWN
SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE
DURING THE LAST MONTH?

48. THE SIX TYPES OF
SOCIAL MEDIA USERS
TODAY

49. SOCIAL NETWORK
USER AGE GROUP
DEMOGRAPHICS

50. LOOK AT THE TYPES OF SOCIAL
MEDIA PLATFORMS IN 2015

51. WHICH FORM OF MEDIA DO YOU
USE MOST? MOBILE DEVICES
HAVE IT ACROSS THE BOARD!

52. SO…DO YOU REALLY NOT NEED
SOCIAL MEDIA IN 2015?

53. WHAT DOES ALL OF THIS MEAN
FOR SOCIAL MEDIA USERS IN
2015 AND BEYOND?
 The social media landscape is always in a state of flux
and change so keeping pace with all of the social
channels is a real challenge in the 21st Century.
 Social media are transitioning to local and mobile-based
platforms.
 Social media users are self-appointed leaders sharing their
experiences across multi-channels.
 Consumers become self-published journalists and
videographers through a wide variety of social media
channels.
 New iOS apps provide easy video storytelling over mobile
smartphones and tablets.
 Social media channels have become essential to today’s
communication where even CEOs introduce themselves to
consumers through variety of different mediums.

54. About the Author
 Dr. Parcells teaches advertising, corporate
communication, marketing communications, Internet &
web technology, media management & economics,
and social media marketing in the Department of
Communication at Austin Peay State University in
Clarksville, TN.
 Website Address: http://DrParcells.org.
 Email: ParcellsF@APSU.edu
 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankparcells/
 Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/feparcells?ref=profile
 Twitter: https://twitter.com/APSU_DrP
Frank E. Parcells (Ph. D., Professor of
Communication) @ Austin Peay State University