# 2.1 Trends in Social Platforms
According to the annual report on global media and digital trends released on January 31 by Univision and We're Social, the number of active social media users worldwide surpassed 5 billion in January this year, reaching 5.04 billion, which is equivalent to about 62.3% of the world's population using social media on a regular basis.
The report states that the number of active social media users worldwide increased by 266 million in one year, an increase of 5.6%, which is much higher than the global population growth of 0.9%. The average social media user spends 2 hours and 23 minutes per day on social media and uses an average of nearly seven social platforms per month. In addition, more than 66% of the global population uses the Internet, with the number of Internet users reaching 5.35 billion, an increase of 1.8% from a year ago. Internet users are now online for an average of 6 hours and 40 minutes per day, an increase of about 3 minutes or 1% from a year ago. The data for the report comes from Kepios, a company specializing in digital user analysis, and relevant United Nations agencies, among others.
With social media entering a new phase of "5 billion+" active users, understanding social media usage patterns, user interests and trends is crucial for organizations to make the best use of social platforms. Traditional social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, can no longer fully meet the needs of users for privacy protection, content authenticity and interactive experience. In recent years, the following trends have emerged:
Multi-functional integration: Users expect a platform that integrates multiple functions, such as instant messaging, short videos, live streaming, game interaction, etc., to provide a more comprehensive social experience.
Decentralization and privacy protection: the application of blockchain technology has made decentralization possible, and users have better control over their data and privacy.
Content Creation and Realization: The platform encourages users to generate original content and provides various ways to realize it, such as reward, advertisement share and NFT sales.
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality: VR and AR technologies are gradually being integrated into social platforms to provide users with immersive and interactive experiences.
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