Social-media trends over 2015

According to Facebook’s “Year in Review”, the top 10 news reports were the US presidential election, the Paris attacks, the Syrian war and refugee crisis, Nepal earthquakes, the Greek debt crisis, marriage equality, Islamic State, the attack on Charlie Hebdo, Baltimore protests and the Charleston shooting and flag debate. (http://yearinreview.fb.com/2015/)

Meanwhile, the top 20 most checked places on Facebook included Disney properties; Universal Studios; Times Square in New York; the Eiffel; Niagara Falls; Siam Paragon; Grand Canyon; Yosemite National Park; the Louvre; Central Park; Warner Bros Studio in London; Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay and Marina Bay Sands. ; Ibirapuera Park; Hollywood Walk of Fame; Madison Square Park; Santa Monica Pier; Barcelona’s Camp Nou; and Expo Milano 2015.

According to Facebook, the lists were measured by how frequently a topic was mentioned in Facebook posts between January and December. The posts were analysed in an aggregated manner and then ranked to create a snapshot of the year on Facebook. 

Meanwhile, Google’s “Year in Search”, (https://www.google.com/|trends/story/2015_GLOBAL) said the top-most searches this year included the Paris attacks, with more than 897 million hits, British singer Adele’s latest album “25” with over 439 million searches and the Oscars, with over 406 million searches. 

On the business side, Instagram unveiled its first Media Education Workshop on “Instagram Ads for Thai Businesses and Insights into Thai Instagrammers” last week in Bangkok.

It revealed that Thai Instagrammers were mostly young, mobile-first users with high spending power and a university degree. The study was on users connected to one of the fastest-growing social platforms and what keeps them engaged. 

Instagram currently has 400 million monthly active users globally, 7.1 million of whom are based in Thailand. Of the latest 100 million to join the photo-sharing application, more than half live in Asia and Europe. 

The “Thais on Instagram” study shows that 83 per cent are aged 18 to 34; the Instagram population is dominated by women (59 per cent); 91 per cent use filters, while 87 per cent post videos; 98 per cent comment on posts and tag friends; and 94 per cent cross-post on other social media. 

The travel and hospitality industry on Instagram is most popular in Thailand, with 85 per cent of the users following at least one brand on the platform and 49 per cent purchasing products from brands they follow. 

Around 35 per cent of Thais like posts on the latest trends; while 59 per cent learn about new brands or products through the platform. The study also shows that 32 per cent of respondents had visited a brand’s website in response to a brand’s Instagram post; while 30 per cent had started following the brand. 

The study shows that Thais use Instagram for inspiration, to explore the world and different cultures, to share their travel experiences as well as to discover information and updates on new trends.

The TNS study was commissioned by Facebook and conducted on Instagram users aged 18 to 44, with the statistics based on self-reported data.