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Last week I shared an epic scavenger hunt I planned with my friends for my husband's 50th b-day. On the other end of that event, I can say that it taxed my abilities to use technology and remain calm. I used Instagram to communicate clues for the hunt and it required me to up my social media abilities. . .big time!

Although I am on social media and post daily, I am not very tech savvy. That being said, I am in ‘the game' which some days feels like the best way to refer to it. . .a game.

The digital world has changed the way we think about everything. For those who refuse to participate, the world is simply shrinking. In fact, there are very few individuals who can remain detached. Even if they choose to not actively participate, their mere existence in this day and age means they are in ‘the game’.

Ryerson published a study on the state of social media use in Canada in 2020 and there were some interesting findings:

Highlights from “The State of Social Media in Canada 2020” include:

1. YouTube (+16%), Instagram (+8%), and LinkedIn (+7%) had the largest increase in the number of daily users, relatively to our data from 2017.
2. Across all social media platforms, adoption tended to drop off with age. 
3. Young people aged 18–24 are the largest adopters of social media (except for Facebook and LinkedIn).
4. Social media is more popular with women than it is with men. Women have adopted Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok and messaging apps in higher proportions than men.
5. Men have adopted YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Reddit, and Tumblr in higher proportions than women.
6. Canadians in the highest household income group ($80,000+) are more likely to use LinkedIn, than those who earn less.
7. While the number of online Canadians on TikTok is relatively small (15%), those who do use the platform visit it regularly (63% daily).
8. Facebook remains the most popular social media platform in Canada; 83% of online Canadian adults report having a Facebook account, followed by messaging apps (65%), YouTube (64%) and Instagram (51%).
9. Facebook also has the highest percentage of daily users (77%), followed by messaging apps (69%) and Instagram (69%).
10. However, all is not rosy for Facebook. Facebook’s share of users aged 18-24, a key demographic for numerous markets, dropped 11% (from 95% in 2017 to 84% in 2020). But Facebook, as a company, made up for the loss with a 22% increase in Instagram users aged 18-24 (from 67% in 2017 to 89% in 2020).

(See the entire report HERE)

No matter where you find yourself in ‘the game’, social media is a prevailing force in our lives and will continue to be. 

Happy Posting,