Top Social Media Trends of 2022

TOP SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS OF 2022

By The FMO Media Team

No matter what profession you’re in, you probably use social media on a daily basis to connect with clients, keep up to date with your industry, or research marketing trends. 

The problem with trends is that they tend to change rapidly. It can be tough to keep up, but it’s important to know what is fresh so you can stay on top of your game when it comes to your online presence. 

And we’re here to help.

Are you wondering about the top social media trends of 2022? Take a look!

Social media platforms are constantly competing with each other to be number one, but according to statistics taken from a recent study done by Statista, the most popular social media platforms of 2022 are as follows:

1. Facebook
2. Instagram
3. LinkedIn
4. Youtube
5. Twitter
6. TikTok
7. Snapchat

Many of these platforms have been around for years, but that doesn’t mean they are old news. As we mentioned earlier, all of these platforms are competing with each other to become number one. This means each platform must integrate the most recent tools and applications to keep their users engaged and their audience interested. 

And as we like to say often at FMO Media, right now video content is king. This brings us to the first most important social media trend of 2022: Live Streaming

Live Streaming

A number of the top social media platforms of 2022—including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram—now offer live streaming as a core part of their services. 

Platform users enjoy the ability to share behind-the-scenes content with their viewers, and audiences appreciate the more raw and unfiltered interaction with the accounts they are interested in. 

A majority of experts believe that live streaming will only continue to gain traction over the next five years. If you’re hesitant about live streaming, don’t be! Studies have found that taking advantage of new tools provided to users by social platforms will benefit the users’ accounts much more quickly by increasing engagement and follower count.

Remember, it’s best to be at the beginning of a trend than the tail end of it! So be brave, put on your game face, and start sharing LIVE with your audience.

PRO TIP

If you are a business account but want to use trending audio, switch your account type to entrepreneur. This will allow you to access music and trending audio you wouldn’t be able to access otherwise).

Stories On Facebook And Instagram

Brands will need to begin taking a more organized approach and plan for Stories as a content format for their publishing calendars, if they aren’t already doing so. More importantly, the use of video as Stories is projected to increase as videos have proven to outperform photos.

What does this mean for you?

It means that utilizing your story feature on Instagram and Facebook is not only a great way to gain traction, build engagement, and reach your audience, but it can help solidify you as the expert in your field. This is especially true if you use video content for stories as opposed to pictures or graphics.

Need some tips for keeping your stories engaging and entertaining?

Use all the tools at your disposal! This means take advantage of stickers, text, filters, and music. 

Augmented Reality

Similar to virtual reality, recent events have accelerated the adoption of Augmented reality (AR) experiences, including in the social space. AR doesn’t require additional hardware beyond a smartphone, making it even more readily accessible than VR. It’s also familiar from experiences like dynamic photo filters that have been on multiple social platforms for years. 

AR allows us to experience virtual content and data as part of our everyday experiences. This tech allows brands to amplify and engage their consumers in more intimate ways than ever before.

Augmented reality is already beginning to take off, though it is a relatively newer social media trend of 2022. So in the spirit of staying ahead of the game, we suggest jumping on any Augmented Reality bandwagon as the tools become available on different platforms.

Stories On Facebook And Instagram

Purpose driven campaigns are set to take center stage when it comes to some of the most important social media trends of 2022. 

While social media has always driven engagement with causes, the global pandemic as well as recent world events has shined an even brighter spotlight on these causes. People want to help more than ever, and they expect brands to pitch in. 

In fact, 74% of respondents in a Twitter survey want brands to showcase acts of kindness. And 77% feel more positively about brands that try to support society during this crisis. 

If you are looking for a great way to stand out while also helping your community, build a strategy for a purpose driven campaign on social media.

Reels, Youtube Shorts, And TikTok

Do you have a smartphone? If so, you have all the tools you need to jump on the most important social media trends of 2022. 

We can thank TikTok for this explosive trend, but now vertically hot content has spread from one social media platform to another. Facebook and Instagram are now featuring reels while Youtube offers Youtube shorts.

Our pro tip? Shoot content vertically on your phone and keep the content under a minute. Take advantage of trending audio and other features like stickers, captions, and location tagging. You can upload the same content to all platforms that allow for it like Youtube, Facebook, TikTok , and Instagram. (And don’t forget to share your reel to your IG stories!)

Just make sure you are customizing posts or removing watermarks for certain platforms. Platforms reward you most when you use features specific to them.

Stories On Facebook And Instagram

Staying on the theme of social media trends of 2022, keep your eyes peeled for upcoming features and tools. With the social media industry constantly adapting to enhance the user experience, what is popular today could shift tomorrow.

For instance, we’re seeing more features and tools that support quick and easy shopping. Instagram, for instance, allows you to add product tags and enable easy checkout without ever leaving the platform. On Facebook, you can set up a Shop that people can browse and buy right on the platform. 

Take advantage of these new features and don’t get hampered by the process. It’s important to be flexible and open-minded with social media marketing and be open to change.

Social media is a critical component of any marketing strategy, but it’s not static. As consumer behavior and preferences change, so do trends. Luckily, if you stay relevant and on top of the most important social media trends of 2022, you should be able to stay ahead of your competition. 

The importance? These changes could have a lasting impact on how you market your business.