The top social media platforms have kicked off the year with their highly anticipated 2024 recap, showcasing the trends, features, and innovations that defined the past year. From Instagram’s trial with Reels to YouTube’s partnership with CAA, there’s plenty to dive into as we reflect on the evolving digital landscape.
As we welcome the new year for those using the Gregorian calendar and the Chinese calendar, we also remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and have some fun with Opposite Day.
And it never hurts to take care of yourself: Jan. 3 is International Mind-Body Wellness Day.
Social Media Holidays to Mark on Your Calendar
- Jan. 1: New Year’s Day
- Jan. 3: International Mind-Body Wellness Day
- Jan. 20: Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- Jan. 25: Opposite Day
- Jan. 29: Chinese New Year
Social Media Platform Updates
TikTok
To the High Court
The Supreme Court will hear TikTok’s appeal Jan. 10 against the law set to take effect Jan. 19, which would ban the application in the U.S. if China-based parent company ByteDance does not divest it.
TikTok said in a statement, “We’re pleased with today’s Supreme Court order. We believe the Court will find the TikTok ban unconstitutional so the over 170 million Americans on our platform can continue to exercise their free speech rights.”
The company added that estimates show that small businesses on TikTok would lose more than $1 billion in revenue and creators would suffer almost $300 million in lost earnings in just one month unless the ban is halted.
Measurement Deal With Nielsen
Advertisers and agencies on TikTok can now directly compare campaign performance on the platform with that of other publishers across all screens via Nielsen ONE.
The two companies said the integration provides a holistic view of campaign performance across publishers and platforms and covers all screens, including connected television, digital, and linear.
Nielsen recently expanded Nielsen ONE to include outcomes capabilities, in addition to advanced audiences, planning, and measurement.
Year on TikTok 2024
TikTok released its Year on TikTok 2024 end-of-year wrap, based on research comprising in-app and third-party insights focused on TikTok’s social, economic, and cultural impact, conducted from January to November 2024. Highlights follow:
- The number of TikTok Shop Live sessions hosted per month in the U.S. nearly tripled in 2024.
- More than 1.2 million #BookTok posts were created in the first 10 months of the year.
- Jools Lebron’s #demure trend from her “very demure, very mindful” post led to demure being named 2024’s Word of the Year by Dictionary.com.
- Brat was Collins Dictionary’s Word of the Year 2024 thanks to Charli xcx’s “Brat Summer.”
- The “Man in Finance” meme by Megan Boni sparked important conversations about dating expectations, gender roles, and the allure of the finance world.
- Animals that captivated TikTok in 2024 included Moo Deng, the adorable pygmy hippo from Thailand, and Pesto, an oversized King Penguin from Australia.
- Culinary highlights of 2024 included the humble baked potato, reimagined by The Spud Brothers in the U.K., and the decadent Dubai chocolate bar by Fix Dessert Chocolatier that have earned rave reviews from foodies around the world.
- TikTok’s global Top Song of 2024 was smash reggaeton hit “Gata Only,” by FloyyMenor and Cris Mj. Tommy Richman’s “MILLION DOLLAR BABY (VHS)” led the way in the U.S.
- Reggaeton sensation Yeri Mua was the top global artist, while the U.S. crown went to Sabrina Carpenter.
- From July 26 through Aug. 11, hashtags related to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris had 1.9 million posts and nearly 50 billion views, while the official Olympics accounts tallied nearly 2 billion views.
- Posts using #WomenInSports skyrocketed by more than 2,400% this year.
- Filmmaker Legendary Jay’s short film, Uno Anime, was the most liked TikTok video of 2024 in the U.S., with 31.1 million.
Other TikTok News
TikTok released its newest collection of transparency reports.
Trial Reels
Instagram introduced Trial Reels, a new way for people to test content by sharing Reels with non-followers.
Trial Reels let creators experiment with new formats and ideas and get an idea of how the content performs before sharing it with their follower base.
Only the creator of the Reel will be able to see that it is a Trial Reel, and it will not be shown on the profile’s main grid or Reels tab, nor will followers see it in their feed or Reels tab.
About 24 hours after a Trial Reel is shared, its creator can view key engagement metrics such as comments, likes, shares, and views, at which point they can opt to “share with everyone.”
Users can also opt to have Instagram automatically share Trial Reels with everyone based on views over the first 72 hours.
Updates to Broadcast Channels
Instagram released updates to its Broadcast Channels feature, which enables creators to engage directly with their community.
Replies give a creator’s fans a way to engage with the creator’s messages and each other. They are nested within messages, keeping topics organized and making it easier for fans to find their place in the channel.
Prompts let creators kick-start conversations in their channel with question-and-answer sessions and daily check-ins. Creators can choose from suggested topics or create custom prompts.
Insights and best practices help creators understand what’s working and get helpful tips to meet their goals. Metrics include poll votes, story shares, and total interactions. Instagram will suggest specific actions to help creators meet goals that they specify.
Instagram Says Hi to Meta AI
Artificial-intelligence-powered assistant Meta AI was incorporated into Instagram.
The voice-activated feature lets Instagram users ask questions and receive answers via voice or shared media, and available voice options include Awkwafina, Kristen Bell, John Cena, Dame Judi Dench, and Keegan Michael Key.
Other Instagram News
- Users can now schedule direct messages.
- The platform began testing scheduled posts on its Threads stand-alone app.
- Instagram is rolling out a way for Threads users to reshare photos and videos, while crediting them to the original poster.
- A new Highlights Story feature being tested displays highlights from accounts a user follows as Stories.
- A change to Instagram parent Meta’s developer tools is impacting how third-party consumer apps like Day One, Discord, Hinge, SnapWidget, Spotlight, and Tinder work with the platform.
- Instagram is testing changes to insights on Threads, starting with metrics for individual posts.
- Threads users will now be able to search for individual posts.
- Another test on Threads will result in some users seeing suggestions to follow multiple profiles from custom feeds curated by a few members of the app’s U.S. community.
- Finally, Threads users who have sharing to the fediverse turned on can follow profiles from other fediverse servers.
YouTube
Protecting IP From AI With CAA
YouTube is teaming up with leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency on an initiative to give several of its top clients access to early-stage technology designed to identify and manage AI-generated content that features their likeness, including their face, on YouTube at scale.
The tool will also provide easy access to submit requests for removal through YouTube’s privacy complaint process.
Those public figures granted access will provide critical feedback to help the Google-owned video platform build its detection systems and refine the controls.
The company added that over the next few months, it will announce new testing cohorts of top YouTube creators, creative professionals, and other leading partners representing talent.
Auto Dubbing
YouTube made its auto dubbing feature available to hundreds of thousands of channels in the YouTube Partner Program that are focused on knowledge and information, and it will expand to other types of content soon.
The platform automatically detects the language of uploaded videos and creates dubbed versions in other languages, making the content accessible to a far wider audience.
To start off, videos in English will be dubbed into French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish, while videos in any of those other languages will be dubbed into English.
The Year on YouTube
The YouTube Culture & Trends team put a bow on 2024 and U.S. highlights include:
- Top trending topic: 2024 presidential election
- Top creator: MrBeast
- Top song: Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us”
- Top song on YouTube Shorts: Tommy Richman, “MILLION DOLLAR BABY”
Other YouTube News:
- The platform is testing a feature that lets creators reply to comments with their voice. At this stage, voice replies can only be left by creators on their own channels via the YouTube iOS app, but all creators and viewers can engage with those comments.
- YouTube began rolling out an update where creators and rights holders can choose to allow third-party companies to use their content to train AI models directly in Studio Settings under “Third-party training.” To be eligible for AI training, a video must be allowed by the creator, as well as the applicable rights holders, which could include owners of content detected by Content ID.
Pinterest Predicts
Pinterest shared its Pinterest Predicts list of 20 bold trends for 2025. Highlights include:
- Travel: Out-of-the-way mountainous venues will be the go-to travel destinations in 2025.
- Fashion: Coordinated fits will be the topic du jour in the group chat. Generation Z and Generation X are riding the wave of a new laid-back maritime attitude with cable-knit sweaters, striped tops, and sardine tattoos. Chunky leather handbags, flowy skirts, moto boots, and a bit of fringe are displacing the hippie vibe for something more Bohemian.
- Home: Baby boomers and Gen X are revolutionizing sustainable living with recyclable fashion, self-sufficient gardens, and other eco-living aesthetics. Gen Z and Gen X plan to paint funky murals onto furniture, jazz up their rooms with contrast trim, and convert their drab cupboards with primary coloring. Gen X and Boomers will mix and match brilliantly bold patterns, eclectic prints, and delightful textures in all colors of the rainbow.
- Cross-category: Gen Z and millennials will infuse cherries into their makeup, menus, and mood boards in the coming year. In 2025, people will turn their entire lives into a tiny, mighty dollhouse. Gen Z and millennials are giving medieval a major moment, finding home décor inspiration from ancient castles and rooting their fashion and accessories in gothic times. Women will be treating themselves like goddesses in 2025, embracing their divine drip like never before with gold facials, goddess braids and sublime nail designs. Dark, edgy beauty is the next new thing with Gen Z and millennials diving into sultry siren makeup, wet wavy hair, and moody mermaid manicures. 2025 will be the year of the makeup mood ring.
- Parenting: Nesting parties are about helping new parents prepare for the postpartum period, setting up their homes for baby’s arrival with freezer-friendly meals, diaper bouquets, and baby cabinet organization.
- Food and beverage: Old-school soda pop will get a radical makeover as Gen Z and millennials increasingly search for terms like “cream soda aesthetic,” “soda drinks recipes,” and “homemade soda.” Silly cakes, funny cakes, and even rodent-themed cakes will be in. Gen X and millennials plan to jam to pickle cakes, pickle fries, pickle dip, pickle margaritas, pickle de gallo, and multiple other creative ways to tickle a pickle.
- Celebrations: Weddings and parties will be vibing Marie Antoinette, the Rococo Queen who flashed both opulent and ultra-feminine. In 2025, people will infuse their tablescapes and decor with modern surrealism: curvy candlesticks, fantastical flowers, and gravity-defying centerpieces.
- Entertainment: Gen X and Gen Z are seeking to curate their digital lives by customizing their avatars’ hair, outfits, and even accessories.
Other Pinterest News:
- Pinterest shared a look at why January, or the “fifth quarter,” should not be viewed as a blackout period for advertisers, saying that the week between Christmas and New Year’s sparks a shopping surge.
- The platform also shared a guide to ad targeting.
Snapchat
Creator Monetization Updates
Snapchat introduced a unified monetization program that places ads within both creators’ Stories and Spotlight videos.
Beginning Feb. 1, eligible creators will be able to monetize Spotlight videos longer than one minute. The company said Spotlight viewership is up 25% year over year.
To be eligible, creators must:
- Have at least 50,000 followers.
- Post at least 25 times per month to Saved Stories or Spotlight.
- Have posted to either Spotlight or Public Stories on at least 10 of the past 28 days.
- Achieve one of the following in the last 28 days: 10 million Snap views, 1 million Spotlight views, or 12,000 hours of view time.
2024 Snapchat Recap
Snapchat users were able to see their personalized Snapchat Recap for 2024, which included a look at their favorite moments of the year, as well as data on how many chats and Snaps they sent in 2024, how many Stories they posted, how many Memories they saved, and how many calls they made on the platform.
Snapchat said some of its users:
- Posted more than 4,677 Stories (over 12 per day on average).
- Saved 6,376+ Memories (roughly 17 every day).
- Sent more than 34,010 Snaps and received over 58,734.
- Sent more than 63,327 chats.
New Features for Snapchat, Snapchat+
Snapchat added new features to its flagship app, as well as its Snapchat+ subscription option.
New immersive app themes give Snapchat+ subscribers a way to transform the look and feel of the app across every tab through preset color schemes.
Subscribers will also get first crack at Snapchat’s new Bitmoji reactions in chat.
People can give Snapchat+ subscriptions as gifts, in-app or via gift cards that can be purchased through Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart.
New lenses like Ugly Sweater Mood helped bring the holiday spirit to the app.
And a new option in chat settings lets users opt to keep messages in a conversation for seven days.
2024 in a Snap
The company shared its 2024 in a Snap look at how its 850 million monthly active users took advantage of the platform over the past year. Highlights include:
- More than 25 million minutes were spent on sports content within Snapchat Spotlight worldwide, and 93% of U.S. users said following their favorite teams or athletes on social media makes them feel a closer connection.
- Some of the most selected non-Sponsored Lenses in 2024 in the U.S. included Pink Dog, Soft Filter, and Scribble World.
- Some of the most shareable Sponsored Lenses in the U.S. in 2024 included Venom: The Last Dance and Bojangles/Tri-Arc Food Systems.
- Some of the most shareable Bitmoji Lenses globally included Applebee’s and Pepsi.
- Nearly 113 million Snapchatters globally experienced a Sponsored beauty Lens at least once.
- The top purchasable Bitmoji fashion garments of 2024 were Baggy Sweatpants, Baggy Skater Jorts, Baggy Camo Cargo Pants, Plush Pumpkin Slippers, and Plush Cat Slippers.
- Some of the most shareable Sponsored Lenses in retail luxury globally by product category included Dior and Stone Island, Chopard – Jewelry, and Cartier – Watch.
- The most popular apparel and accessories product categories that advertisers made Sponsored Lenses for were eyewear, clothing, hats, footwear, jewelry, and watches.
- Charli XCX’s 360 Lens was one of the most shared music Lenses.
- In the U.S., nostalgic tracks like “Friday, I’m in Love” by The Cure and recent hits like “MILLION DOLLAR BABY” by Tommy Richman were among the top tracks used for creating Snaps.
- In 2024 alone, Snapchatters globally viewed over 73 million hours of travel content on Spotlight, and stateside travelers shared Sponsored AR Lenses from brands like VisitScotland and Las Vegas.
- Some of the most shareable Sponsored entertainment Lenses in the U.S. in 2024 included Venom: The Last Dance and Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards.
- Snapchatters recorded over 896 million visits and over 75 million check-ins to restaurants in 2024 in the U.S. on the app.
- Over 50% of Snapchatters in the U.S. are 25 and older.
Other Snapchat News
A new comprehensive study by Snap and Alter Agents uncovers how audiences at different life stages use and enjoy Snapchat.
Meta
Strike One Do-Over Expanded
Meta extended an initiative it introduced in August to let creators erase their first strike for violating its policies by completing an educational program across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Threads.
The option is not available for the most severe policy violations, and violating content will still be removed.
Creators using Professional Mode got access to the option when it rolled out in August, and it is now available to all Facebook users, with its addition to Instagram in progress.
Watermarking AI-Generated Videos
Meta is releasing a new tool, Meta Video Seal, which lets users apply imperceptible watermarks to AI-generated video clips.
Meta Video Seal is available in open source and designed to be integrated into existing software.
ID verification platform Sumsub found that there was a fourfold increase in global deepfakes from 2023 through 2024, and deepfakes accounted for 7% of all fraud in 2024.
Other Meta News
- Simon Whitcombe was promoted to vice president, head of North America, global business group, succeeding Alvin Bowles, who is leaving the company.
- Meta published a series of reports detailing its steps to comply with the Digital Services Act in the European Union.
- Ray-Ban Meta glasses now support live AI, which adds video to Meta AI on the smart glasses, and live translation, which translates speech in real-time between English and either French, Italian, or Spanish.
LinkedIn Ads Updates
The professional network announced several updates to its advertising platform.
Companies, which replaces the Company Engagement Report, brings expanded filtering options and both paid and organic metrics to help companies understand how other companies interact with their brand on LinkedIn and more accurately tailor their campaigns.
LinkedIn’s new data-driven attribution model in Campaign Manager goes beyond last-touch models to provide insights into all marketing efforts that influence online lead generation, helping advertisers understand which ads, campaigns, and tactics delivered the greatest impact.
The new Measurement Insights tab in Campaign Manager provides a centralized hub for actionable insights at the ad format, campaign, company, and member levels.
Finally, Qualified Leads Optimization lets advertisers connect their customer-relationship-management platforms to the LinkedIn Conversions API (application-programming interface) and share examples of qualified leads, at which point the professional network’s optimization tool will uncover similar prospects, letting advertisers tailor their campaigns to target leads that meet specific marketing or sales criteria.
Other LinkedIn News
- LinkedIn Senior Vice President of Engineering Mohak Shroff detailed how the professional network uses AI and, particularly, AI agents.
- The platform teamed up with VidMob to study 13,600 creative assets and 2.9 billion impressions, uncovering three unique 2024 trends: Storytelling that connects AI to tangible business outcomes and human experiences is key; LinkedIn is seeing a natural convergence of professional expertise and personal authenticity; and while blue dominates on the platform, used by 43% of top tech brands, high-contrast visuals improved video completion rates by 68% and lifted static engagement by 41%, while fresh, unexpected colors like pink captured attention.
X
Price Hike
X implemented a price increase for X Premium+ subscriptions Dec. 21, with existing subscribers charged at their original rate if their next billing cycle starts before Jan. 20.
The new rates in the U.S. are: Basic Tier, $3 per month, $32 per year; Premium Tier, $8 per month, $84 per year; and Premium+ Tier, $22 per month, $229 per year.
X said the price hike reflects the completely ads-free experience for Premium+, as well as higher-priority support from @Premium, access to new features, and higher limits on Grok AI models.
The company wrote, “Your subscription now more directly fuels our evolving creator program. We’ve shifted our revenue share model to reward content quality and engagement, rather than ad views alone. Your Premium+ subscription fee contributes to this new, more equitable system, where creator earnings are tied to the overall value they bring to X, not impressions of ads.”
Other X News
- The company shared ways for advertisers on its platform to take advantage of Q5, or the period between the day after Christmas and mid-January.
- The Grok AI chatbot is now available to all users.
- X launched Aurora, the new image generation model for Grok.
- X said it saw 364 billion total user active seconds in 2024, up 10% year over year, and 8.3 billion daily video views, up 40%.
- The platform rolled out a new video player that expands to fit larger screens.
Reddit’s Got the Answers
Reddit debuted Reddit Answers, an AI-powered conversational interface that lets users ask questions and receive curated summaries of relevant conversations and details across Reddit, including links to related communities and posts.
The company said users can read relevant snippets and answers inline from other users, jump into the full conversations, and go deeper in their search with their own or suggested follow-up questions.
The feature initially debuted for a limited number of U.S. users, in English, and Reddit said it plans to expand Reddit Answers to more languages and locations.
Tumblr
Enter Communities
Tumblr said its Communities feature is out of beta and available to all users.
Communities can be private or public, and they are available across Android, iOS, and the web, worldwide.
Improvements to Calling
More than 2 billion calls are made on WhatsApp every day, and the Meta-owned messaging app introduced several new calling features across desktop and mobile.
When starting a call from a group chat, users can now select only the specific participants they want to reach, rather than the entire group.
A total of 10 new effects for video calls include adding puppy ears, taking the conversation underwater, or handing participants a microphone for karaoke.
The desktop interface was improved, providing quicker access to starting calls, creating call inks, or dialing numbers directly.
And the quality was improved on one-on-one and group video calls.
Brands That Stay on Trend
Musical artist Kyra Machida touted JBL’s Tour Pro 3 wireless earbuds.
@kyramachida Living through sound with @JBLAudio Tour Pro 3’s #JBLPartner #FirstDoesntFollow ♬ original sound – KYRA (ki-ra)
Paramount+ tapped Danny Huyhn to share what food he would prepare based on Dexter: Original Sin.
@papabwoi #ParamountPlusPartner What food I’d make for you based on your favourite TV show #DexterOriginalSin @paramountplus #foodtok #foodtiktok #TVshow ♬ original sound – Danny Huynh
@carebearkieran helped fire up college football fans for the Pop Tarts Bowl.
@carebearkieran #ad If you thought last year’s @Pop-Tarts Bowl was crazy…JUST WAIT FOR THIS YEAR’S! @Pop-Tarts #PopTartsBowl #CrazyGood ♬ original sound – Kieran
Open Influence’s team stays on top of the latest trends and is here to help you maximize your creator campaigns. Open Influence is a leading global creator marketing agency dedicated to creating engaging campaigns that drive engagement on the top social media platforms on the market.
