Rating Each Social Media’s Pandemic Performance

2020 was a massive year for nearly every social media platform. The pandemic undoubtedly led to people spending more time on their phones, so anyone who had a social media account started to use it more frequently. 

The results were pretty astounding, as social media usage spiked across the board. Polling confirmed the theory, quantifying that close to 50% of U.S adults were using the platforms more since the pandemic’s beginning. 

So, what we got from 2020 was a holistic picture. How well would social media companies do when faced with an exponentially increasing user base? Some of them rose to the occasion with new features and creator tools, while others stayed dormant and faded into the background. 

TikTok: 100%

TikTok’s pandemic output separated them from every other app. With a huge funding push to keep creators making content, a consistent update of new features, filters, and trends, and a general tendency to implement things that users actually want, their execution neared perfection. 

The app isn’t perfect, none of them are. TikTok sometimes bans users that don’t deserve it, displays a creepy amount of user targeting on the for you page, and has previously developed a pretty poor global reputation on privacy grounds. But, they’ve been overwhelmingly consumer-oriented with implementations of features like skipping through videos, introducing a creator fund, and making it easy to get views and followers. 

Instagram: 80%

Instagram is doing the right things at a slightly slower pace than TikTok is. They’ve started to add creator monetization features, introduced Reels, and optimized the UI to include better button designs and new setups for certain menu features.

Yet, Instagram isn’t doing most of the things that its users want. The creator features are lackluster in comparison to TikTok’s. Some of the additions to the app are functionally useless. It seems like the company has been focused on debuting many new things instead of focusing on improving areas that already need fixing. 

Overall, they’re on the right path. 

Snapchat: 20%

Snapchat hasn’t done anything besides show users explore page content that they specifically don’t care to see and take away some of the sneaky tricks that people previously used to see content without giving the other person a notification. They get props for not losing their social media platform but no credit for advancing their consumer experience.

Twitch: 60%

Twitch seems to have done an excellent job at hosting Esports during the pandemic, making sure that streamers prefer their platform over others, and kept some features that users love. Nothing extraordinary, but a solid performance that led to an increase in watchers.

YouTube: 60%

Similar to Twitch, YouTube hasn’t done anything crazy. They’re still reliable, people still watch their site’s videos while they eat lunch, and creators are still content with making videos and uploading them.

Facebook: 10%

Despite being the most popular social media platform worldwide, I find that Facebook’s UI has become excessively overcomplicated and challenging for newcomers to use. Most aspects of the app are difficult to navigate and can be aggravating at times; Considering that a more significant portion of Facebook’s user base is adults, a complex setup is not the best move on their part.