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Live streams are changing the way social media apps such as TikTok, Instagram and Twitch work and becoming our new ‘social language’
- This year consumers have made more than 9.2 billion app downloads and are expected to spend 548 billion hours live-streaming – including on TikTok and Instagram
- They are expected to spend an estimated US$6.78 billion via social apps worldwide this year, according to a recent report by App Annie
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Live-streaming and the explosion of the “creator economy” are igniting a rise in social media app use and rapidly changing the online landscape, a study has found.
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In 2021 alone, consumers have already made more than 9.2 billion app downloads and are expected to spend 740 billion hours on them. That includes an estimated 548 billion hours of them live-streaming – in apps including TikTok, Twitch and Instagram – according to mobile data and analytics tracker App Annie in its “The Evolution of Social Media Report” released on September 6.
The report also found that hourly usage of apps in 2021 is likely to surpass last year’s total of nearly 800 billion hours because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, say App Annie executives.
App Annie cites the surge in usage of Twitch, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Twitch initially rose to popularity with gamers and has more than 30 million people who visit the site daily; more consumers are turning to Twitch to make connections outside game streams from music to comedy, App Annie found.
“Authentic, real-time connection is driving meaningful growth and is set to underpin the future landscape of social media apps,” App Annie said.
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