Blog

As always, things changed a lot in the world of social in 2022.

We’ve been keeping tabs on the changes all year here in the Dooley blog (and the D’brief on LinkedIn). And as they did at the end of 2021 and 2020, many channels shared some wrap-ups of the past 12 months as well as some predictions for what’s in store over the next 12.

Below, find a quick summary of what stood out to our team—as well as a few highlights of our own.

Enjoy, and happy new year!

TikTok

2022 could very well be remembered as the year that TikTok established clear dominance over the social media landscape.

For their part, TikTok is highlighting a recap focused on “you,” as well as the trends to look out for in 2023:

2022 Year on TikTok Recap

Labeled the Year on TikTok: 2022, truly #ForYou, TikTok’s recap highlights some of the standout trending posts on the platform this year. The “#ForYou” branding is clever, too, since it emphasizes that TikTok’s feed dynamically personalizes what is displayed for each user’s preferences.

The top highlighted posts include:

• Top in the US - @amauryguichon - “Constructing a very large chocolate giraffe”

• Top Worldwide - @ox_zung - “The Stitch expert shares tricks that made us gasp!”

• Top Song in the US - "Sunroof" - Nicky Youre & dazy - “Hummable, breezy brilliance from a talented duo, originally released via SoundOn”

• Top Breakthrough Star in the US - @dylanmulvaney - “Dylan Mulvaney is a trans actress, comic, and content creator. Dylan's viral series "Days of Girlhood," a documentary on TikTok of her transition journey, has reached more than one billion views.”

• Top “Only On TikTok” - Jiggle Jiggle (US) and It's Corn! (Worldwide)

• Top US Hitmaker - @lizzo

• Favorite Communities - BookTok, CarTok, FilmTok / MovieTok, Small Business TikTok, Sustainability TikTok

• Top Foodie Trend - Grated Egg Toast

• Top SMB - @81stdeli - “The 81st St. Deli in Cleveland started trending on TikTok after Nish Godfrey (@onlynishaa_) raved about their Chicken Salad.”

• Top US Emerging Artist - @icespicee - “The Bronx baddie served up hits like "Munch (Feelin U)" and her fans on TikTok ate them for lunch.”

*Note: It’s unclear if these were truly the top-viewed videos in each catetgory. There was most likely some editorializing for these lists.

TikTok’s What’s Next 2023 Trend Report

Their third annual Trend forecast, the TikTok What’s Next Report highlights how the company feels consumer wants and needs will evolve next year—and the report is written with marketers in mind.

The report’s subtitle is “A New Era of Confidence” and it hones in on three major trends:

1. Actionable Entertainment

2. Making Space for Joy

3. Community-Built Ideals

The full report also shares mroe detailed trend examples, creative marketing frameworks, advice on tracking trends for yourself, and more.

Read more about the What’s Next Report or download the PDF.

“Against the backdrop of the increasing cost of living and its associated challenges, our What’s Next report indicates people will be seeking new ways to achieve success, happiness and wellbeing - and TikTok will be a tool to help them find it.””

— Sofia Hernandez, Global Head of Business Marketing for TikTok

Instagram

2023 Trends

Instagram shared a 2023 Trend Report is focused on Gen-Z. Billed as “a data-driven guide to cultural and social trends as defined by Gen Z,” The report focuses on community and connection, highlighting stats and predictions such as:

• Side hustles - 2/3 of Gen Z plans to use social media to make money in 2023

• Influencers with Disabilities - 3 out of 4 Gen Z social media users want to follow an influencer who has a disability

• Sustainability - More than half of Gen Z plans to DIY their clothes in 2023

• Web3 - Over half plan to get fashion inspiration from digital avatars

Download the report as a PDF. To accompany the report, catch Darian Symoné Harvin’s (@darian) chats with Gen Z trendsetters about their predictions for the new year.

Recap Templates for Reels

As a fun bonus of sorts, Instagram also released a way for users to celebrate their own recaps of 2022 with a template build into the Reels creator. The templates have narration from popular influencers such as Bad Bunny, Badshah and DJ Khaled.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Instagram (@instagram)

Spotify

Perhaps the true Ruler of Recaps, Spotify’s Wrapped experience has slowly taken over the world. It has now spawned dozens of copycats, too.

Along with the personalized content created for each user (and then shared on many other social platforms), Spotify has also published a home for the 2022 Wrapped campaign that includes additional content such as 2022’s trending songs, artists, and podcasts.

LinkedIn

The business-y social platform’s wrap-up focuses on LinkedIn’s Big Ideas for 2023.

There are a lot of them! Here are two of the stand-outs (with the rest linked below).

41 Big ideas that will change our world In 2023 by LinkedIn News Editor Scott Olster highlights some of the 2022 trends that will continue next year. Each trend links to relevant thought-leaders you can follow on LinkedIn to follow up on these ideas throughout the year. Some of the most interesting include:

• Hybrid work will be here to stay

• AI will gain multiple “senses”

• The age of the tech CEO hero will come to an end

• The school-to-work path will be turned on its head

• Social media users will turn their back on the algorithm - And “a growing share of users will turn to smaller platforms in 2023.”

“We won’t see a mass exodus from the big social players in 2023. But in 12 months’ time, the social media landscape will look very different, as users seek out safer, more welcoming communities.”

— Emma Hudson, News Editor at LinkedIn News UK

There was also a video post by LinkedIn’s COO Dan Shapero with three Predictions for 2023:

His predictions focus on economic uncertainy, investing in teams, and planning for 2024:

1. 2023 will be a year of uncertainty - “No one knows where the economy is going.” Shapero recommends adopting an adaptive or responsive leadership style (instead of a reactive one) and being careful about reacting too quickly as constant new data and information come to you.

2. There will be a lot of renegotiation of work policies - Since many leaders believe teams are more productive at the office and in collaborative environments, but workers believe the opposite, then organizations will need to find the right balance. There will also be a focus on internal mobility to ensure that the best workers have ways to grow.

3. Budgets will be reviewed, but investments will keep being made in brands - Companies that want to lead their markets will invest as the economy slows down, positioning them to win big as buying behavior increases in 2024.

Here are some other “Big Ideas” articles from LinkedIn:

• Hope for the best but be ready for more upheaval

• Cut through uncertainty

• B2B marketing

• Sales in 2023

• Job market of the future is all about skills

• Hiring and Retaining Talent in 2023

• Workplace Trends

Pinterest

Pinterest has been publishing awesome Trends reports for years now. Given their unique position as a social platform that is also very Search-oriented, they always have insightful data to share—and a good track record of predictions turning out to be true (80%, they say!).

This year’s report hones in on topics that are trending up heading into 2023, such as:

• Beauty trends - like Micro makeovers and “Gemini hair”

• Celebrations - like “The YOLO years”

• Financial services - The “Cha-ching challenge” will gamify finances

• Food and beverages - Like non-alc “Free spirits”

• Hobbies and interests - Especially analog hobbies like origami

• Home - Such as mixing antique and modern furniture

• Parenting - With a focus on the “fourth trimester” and postpartum care

• Wellbeing - Like how to improve posture with “primal movement”

Read the full Pinterest Predicts report or download the PDF.

And more!

These platforms also shared insightful content heading into the new year:

• Snapchat released the 2022 in a Snap report with stats such as the increased usage of Lenses and the most popular usage days on the platform.

• Facebook Messenger’s Lookback article highlights how much the popular chat app has evolved throughout 2022.

• Twitter didn’t share much in the way of a recap, but news outlets had a lot to work with. For example, Social Media Today shared a helpful list of All the Changes Implemented by Elon Musk in His Time as Chief Twit.

• YouTube usually has some interesting recaps. This year they shared a 12 months of the YouTube blog article highlighting their top stories each month. There was also a list of 15 rising stars on YouTube Shorts. They seem to also be crowdsourcing some upcoming “best of” lists.

• Social software companies often have some interesting articles this time of year, too. Sprout Social’s 2023 content benchmarks is a good reference headed into the new year, and Buffer’s top posts of the year (their posts, to be clear) shares insights on what performed best and why.

Dooley Recap

To wrap it up, we thought we’d highlight some of our most popular social media update blog posts from 2022. Here’s what you tended to read most this year:

• Subscriptions Coming to Instagram (for Creators)

• Facebook is Removing Some "Detailed Targeting" Options for Ads

• New LinkedIn Post Analytics

• LinkedIn is Rolling Out Carousel Posts

• Updates from the Metaverse – What Zuck + Co. are Working Toward

• More "Chat" Coming to Snap's App via New Messaging Features

Thanks for following along these past months. We’re excited to keep updating you on all the most important changes in the social media space throughout 2023.

Outside of the blog, we also continued our popular Social Media Show & Tell events. Be sure to catch up on our recap posts:

• May 2022 - Featuring Jenn Herman and Amanda Robinson

• September 2022 - Featuring Michael Stitch, Brayton Deal, Taylor Roy, Emil Barr, and Bekah Legault

• December 2022 - Featuring Lauren Davis, Tim Schmoyer, and our very own Keri Stephens - And announcing the first-ever recipients of the Social Media Excellence awards!

A lot has happened in our company in the past 12 months, and we are so excited for what’s to come. Thank you for joining us on the ride!