Mastering Instagram in 2025: How Carousels, Reels, and User-Generated Content Shape Engagement

The SocialInsider team has released its Instagram Benchmarks 2025 Report, offering key insights and content performance statistics to help businesses optimize their presence on the platform. The first key insight is that Instagram saw a 16% YoY decline in engagement and this is because users have become selective in the content they want to consume. In 2024, the engagement rates were 0.50% for carousels, 0.45% for reels, and 0.40% for single images. This means that if someone wants to stand out on the platform, they have to produce different and high quality content that holds some value in users’ eyes. It is also important that content creator/mangers post reels and stories frequently, reels for the general audience and stories for followers. Users always get attracted towards content that is relatable with some humor, and creativity through user-generated content holds value like no other.

Carousels on Instagram are doing way better than reels and stories, but what's the reason behind it? It's simple; users just love swiping through different slides especially if they are based on tutorials, storytelling and even content that evokes emotions. Carousels are a great way to boost engagement and you can make them interesting by creating carousels in a way that they seem like mini-guides, starting them off with a strong hook that immediately catches the interest of users, wrapping the last slide with urging followers to like, save and comment and creating the content so creative and interesting that people cannot help but save it. Instagram pages of Airbnb and Headspace have great examples of carousels which hook up with the users from start to finish.

• Also read: Stop Guessing, Start Knowing: The Social Media Tools You Need for 2025

The report also found that brands posted 11% more reels in 2024 as compared to last year which means that many brands are prioritizing reels over posting content like single post or carousels. As reels have good reach potential and most users love watching reels, brands love making unique and creative reels to gain followers. Reels aren't really made for followers, they are made to reach a general audience and they can discover the brands. If you want to create an effective reels strategy, it is important to add reels into your weekly posts, and share them at least twice a week. Keep the reels short but make them fun so that users cannot help but stay on them and keep wanting to come back to watch the unique blend of creativity, humor and your brand value. Instagram pages of Sephora and Allbirds have some good examples of reels that are a shadow of their brands.

Another thing that reels attract are comments, especially if the brands have less than 100k followers. On the other hand, brands with more than 100k followers get more comments on images. When you are getting comments on your Instagram post, it means that you have an engaged audience who loves your content and shares feedback about it. To further improve the engagement, it is best to reply to those comments to keep the audience hooked. If you want to get more comments on your posts, always end the content with a question or ask the audience some question in the caption. Keep the content trendy with some humor and try to share some behind the scenes moments too as the audience loves to see what goes beyond the Instagram posts. Ben & Jerry and Glossier’s Instagram pages have some good content that engages the followers and they cannot help but comment.

• Related: Clickbait, Chaos, and Burnout: How 2024 Redefined Our Social Media Experience

It was also found that carousels on Instagram get saved the most, especially for large brands. If an account has less than 5k followers, their carousel posts get average 3 saves, while accounts with more than 100k followers get average 134 saves on carousels. Users save carousels because they find them save-worthy, valuable and because they have a good hook, ever-green and interesting like Headspace and National Geographic. The award for highest impression rates goes to reels, with average 30% impressions on accounts with less than 5k followers. Reels also get the highest impressions on accounts with more than 100k followers at 12%. To get more engagements on reels, always make sure to do big announcements through them that hook viewers from the start, use them to create hype around some of your content or big moments and share all the customer stories through them. Check out some reels of nike to gain insights about how to make reels that get more impressions.

Why do small brands get the most impression on reels? It is because Instagram gives some extra visibility boost to them to help small accounts get attention they need. There will be a 13% average view rate on reels from small brand accounts in 2025, as compared to 6.5% reel view rate on large brand accounts. So small businesses should use this advantage from Instagram to show off their brand’s personality by keeping their content simple but authentic, targeting niche audiences and sharing relatable content everyday. Small brands also have the highest potential to increase their Instagram followers and according to the analytics, there will be a 40% average follower growth rate for small brands under 5k followers in 2025. To get more followers, small brands should share unique content, connect with their followers, and team up with like minded influencers or creators.

Read next: From Algorithms to Cancellations: Why Streaming Services Leave Subscribers Overwhelmed
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

US Secret Service Admits to Tracking People with Location Details Taken Without Consent

The American Secret Service has made some shocking confessions about tracking users. This includes making use of location details that may have never been given with consent.

The top security agency made the confessions in a new email that was first spotted by 404 Media. They spoke about tracing people down through a monitoring tool found on a mobile phone.

The content of the email screenshot in transcript form:

------ start -------

Please see the below response from INV. In addition, if a SME is needed, Supervisory Cyber-Financial Forensic Analyst ███████ will be your POC. Please keep INV-SP in the loop with any additional needs.

Whether the Secret Service is obtaining a warrant before querying the Locate X service to track the movement of a phone located in the United States.

No.

Whether the Secret Service's general counsel has taken the position that purchased location data is not subject to protections under the Fourth Amendment

On September 25, 2020, the DHS Office of the General Counsel issued a memorandum on the use of commercially available geolocation data associated with the advertising identifier (AdID). The Senior Official Performing the Duties of the General Counsel determined that the use of AdID data can continue being incorporated into investigative techniques and protocols without a warrant, because there is "a strong argument that the use of AdID data does not constitute a 'search." This memorandum was specific to the use of AdID data by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The USSS, as a component of DHS, relies on this memorandum as instructive.

What steps the Secret Service has taken to verify that the location data it purchased from Babel Street was obtained by consumers who consented to the onwards sale and sharing of the data* and not just to the initial collection and use by a mobile app.

None.

-------- end ----------

The email brings to light for the first time how the Secret Service and a host of leading American federal agencies might be monitoring citizens unlawfully through data taken commercially. Without a warrant and consent attained, this could be categorized as unlawful behavior/activity.

More information about the tool was released including how it’s dubbed Locate X and under the ownership of Babel Street. The email shared from 2022 had the Secret Service provide exact details on which steps it took to verify the data that was bought from the company. Also, it was asked which measures it implemented to make sure consumers provided consent to selling and sharing of data.

Remember, location data can arise from a host of different sources. This includes some apps found on different people’s phones including weather and navigation. To many people’s dismay, their answer was none and consumers were stunned. Remember, this is American leading security agency for intelligence and it’s alarming for it to not verify the information.

A few weeks back, reports from 404 Media were published that put never-before-seen pictures with details on display about Locate X. In the demo videos that were leaked, one user drew geofence around a specific area and that followed mobile phones that were in the location.

There was one instance where users could track movements for the phones that paid visits to sensitive areas like abortion clinics. There was another bombshell email where officials from the Secret Service squad would argue over warrants needed for using Locate X.

For usual cellphone history data, warrants are needed but when consent is provided, no such warrant is necessary. This is because people agree to the terms of service put forward. But the latest email on discussion shows how that was not provided.

It’s outrageous to make claims about users waiving off privacy rights for any agency from the government that wishes to attain location data. Looking back at 2022, the Secret Service shared more about how no action was further taken on this front.

Instead, they tried to justify the act at first with claims about using different tools in investigations that apply to current policies and laws. Whatever the case might be, it’s alarming to see what happened and how big agencies are breaking the law by utilizing commercially attained location information. There was even one case in the discussion where a leading official used the information to track the locations of different colleagues without any real purpose.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next:

• Study Reveals AI's Growing Role in Job Loss Across Writing and Design Fields

• Did Apple Keep You in the Dark About Data Sharing in ‘Enhanced Visual Search’?
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Study Reveals AI's Growing Role in Job Loss Across Writing and Design Fields

New research by Imperial College London highlights growing concerns about AI's impact on the labor market. While a decade-old Oxford University study examined technology's effects on employment, these concerns have intensified with AI's increasing integration into everyday life. The study by Imperial College looks at effects AI can cause in the freelance market such as graphic designing and content writing. For the study, the researchers looked at 1.4 million freelancing jobs posted on different websites from July 2021 and July 2023. The results of the study showed that there was a 30% drop in jobs related to content writing because of artificial intelligence. Even though there is only a slight drop in jobs related to web development and software development due to AI, the jobs are still less than what they were before AI. There was also some drop in jobs related to graphic designing and 3D Modeling after AI models like DALL-E-2 and Midjourney got introduced.

The researchers say that this drop doesn't seem to be temporary because now companies are experimenting with newer technologies which can make their work easier and automated. The researchers compared this decline in jobs caused by AI to the loss of factory jobs during the automation era, when robots replaced human workers. But the drop because of robotic implementation in factories wasn't as much as drop in jobs due to current AI wave. One of the researches show that when there was a 20% increase in robots adoption in France, there was only a 3% drop in jobs in industries and factories. This is actually concerning, especially the drop in content writing jobs because it makes us question our capabilities as AI is more than enough to write content. But there are many problems regarding ChatGPT’s research on various topics and the content it produces doesn't stand out too much.

• Related: The Hidden Cost of Innovation: How Tech Giants Are Funding the Backbone of AI

University of Alberta names content generated by AI as “botshit” and University of Zurich says that AI generated content is less trustworthy to readers if it is labeled as AI generated. Instead of completely relying on AI, organizations are asking writers to oversee AI generated content and make it more human-like. This means a pay cut for writers and they cannot show their capabilities and creativity fully, as well as their identity and motivation. Employees are not happy with this deployment of AI because it is adding no value to the work and they cannot engage fully with what they work for.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next: Global Survey Unveils Influencer Aspirations, Social Media Trends, and AI's Growing Role in Content Creation
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

From Algorithms to Cancellations: Why Streaming Services Leave Subscribers Overwhelmed

A survey of 2,000 American streaming subscribers by UserTesting reveals 20% find it harder to choose content today than a decade ago. A total of 120 hours per year are spent by scrolling through streaming services because users cannot find something to watch. Even though there is too much content on streaming services nowadays, subscribers seem to be overwhelmed with the amount of content that they end up watching nothing at all. 26% of the respondents said that there is too much original content that is being produced while 41% said that they get confused about what to watch because there is too much to watch in content libraries.

75% of the respondents said that the algorithm of their streaming service is helpful for them as it recommends things to watch according to their taste, but 51% admitted that they get overwhelmed with the recommendations because they want to watch everything at once. 48% of the respondents of the survey admitted not having traditional cable TV now, with 43% saying that they choose to watch content on streaming services because it has variety and 34% said that the content they like to watch isn't on traditional TV. 29% also said that it is also easy to watch content streaming services while on-the-go as compared to traditional cable.

Even though many people are choosing streaming services, 51% are still dissatisfied with it and say that they should have more options and the streaming services. 40% defined their dream streaming service as the streaming platform with premium channels with no additional cost and 39% defined it as a platform where they can easily navigate through content. There were also respondents who said that they like it when a streaming service has an easy to navigate interface (52%).

11% of the respondents said that they are willing to pay more than $100 for a streaming service if it has all the features and content they want, while most of the respondents said that an average $46 a month is best for streaming service subscription. 79% of the respondents said that they feel extreme frustration if the streaming service they are using charge extra for some selected content, with 59% saying that it is very unlikely that they pay for that additional content and 77% saying that they watch something else instead. 19% also said that they often subscribe to the free trial of a platform if it has the content they want to watch.

69% of the respondents reported opening an account on a streaming service and subscribing to it only to find out that it doesn't have the content they were looking for. 56% said that they cancel their subscription on a streaming platform as soon as they finish the show they were watching, but 23% said that they have faced difficulties while cancelling the subscription. 36% said that they found the cancellation process of subscriptions on streaming platforms too difficult and with multiple steps.

Read next: Mobile Addiction Soars, Americans Check Phones 205 Times Daily, Survey Reveals
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Global Survey Unveils Influencer Aspirations, Social Media Trends, and AI's Growing Role in Content Creation

IZEA’s Influencer Aspirations report is here which provides some insights for different influencers, who have already become one and the ones who are aspiring to become one, and how influencer marketing is playing an important role in the lives of many consumers. For the report, a total of 6,000 social media users were surveyed from 6 countries, 1,000 each from one country. According to the survey, 25% of the respondents who use social media consider themselves influencers, with most of it seen in China (45%), followed by the US (27%) and UK (21%). Only 7% of the respondents who were surveyed had over 500k followers. Most of the respondents had less than 1,000 followers.

Respondents were asked if they personally know someone who makes money from social media influencing, and 43% respondents answered with yes. Most of the respondents who said that they know someone who earns money as a social media influencer were from China (68%), followed by Mexico (41%) and the US (40%). China also leads with most respondents aspiring to become influencers (60%), followed by Mexico (45%) and Canada (28%). This trend was not seen much in the US and it seems like not many people in the US aspire to become influencers.

63% of the respondents of the survey were also ready to quit their jobs if they can make a living as a social media influencer. 79% of the respondents from Mexico said so, followed by 62% respondents from Canada and 61% from China. When influencers were asked what their employment status was, 68% of the influencers said that they work full time, with most of the influencers from China working full time (83%). The survey also found that most of the influencers are more likely to be self-employed than general social media users.

• Also read: Stop Guessing, Start Knowing: The Social Media Tools You Need for 2025

When respondents were asked if they would accept payments or free products from brands to promote their products, 78% answered with yes. 45% of the influencers from China said that they received payment from the brand for a sponsored post. As it's the era of technology, respondents were also asked if they use AI for creating content they post on social media. 59% of the social media users said that they use AI tools for their posts, with 48% of the respondents from China saying that they use them often, followed by 36% from Mexico and 27% from the US.

In case of most hours spent on social media, Mexico led the list with respondents using social media for an average 6.8 hours, followed by average 6.4 hours a day spent by respondents in China and 5.8 hours average spent by respondents in the US. The survey also found that social media users who spent more than average 5 hours on social media are 3.2 more likely to get paid by brands to promote their products.

Read next:

• Clickbait, Chaos, and Burnout: How This Year Redefined Our Social Media Experience

• Mobile Addiction Soars, Americans Check Phones 205 Times Daily, Survey Reveals

by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Did Apple Keep You in the Dark About Data Sharing in ‘Enhanced Visual Search’?

Tech giant Apple is known for its stronghold on privacy measures and ensuring users’ data remains safe. However, a recently published blog by Jeff Johnson is raising the curtain on a feature for iPhone users that might be doing more than promised.

The feature in question for iOS users is called ‘Enhanced Visual Search’ and when this toggle is on for the device’s Photos app, usually by default, it’s giving the phone permission to share information from the saved photos with Apple.

Image: lapcatsoftware

Many were quick to check if that was indeed true and they were amazed how they had no idea. The feature allows users to search for some top-notch landmarks that they’ve previously captured and even explore more pictures using the same names. All in all, it does make the search process much more defined but the cost is users’ privacy.

This is not the first time that we’ve seen Apple turn back on its own claims. It previously tarnished its reputation of being a strong privacy enthusiast when collecting users’ interactions with voice assistant Siri.

If you want to experience it too, simply swipe on an image that you took of a building and click on ‘Look up Landmark’. You’ll find a card pop-up that really identifies you. Several examples were also shared to prove the point.

For many, a first glance shows nothing alarming. It’s a simple and very convenient expansion for the already popular Visual Look Up that was rolled out on iOS 15. However, the latter never required additional permission to share more information with the iPhone maker but this one does.

You can find descriptions under every toggle that speak about Apple providing permission to silently match locations in the images with global indexes that are covered by Apple. You can get more information through the blog including how the feature really works to give you regions of interest related to the landmark you’re in search of.

As per this blog, the embedded vector gets encrypted and shared with Apple so that it can be compared with the database. You’ll see the iPhone maker provide its fair share of explanations on this front through technical means. This is a part of Apple’s research blog and if you ask us, not a lot of it makes sense.

For now, we’re in search of Apple’s response on this front. They didn’t provide any immediate reply on whether the accusations of data sharing were true or not. For now, it appears the firm went to long lengths to ensure information remains private.

We feel that making this toggle a feature where users could opt-in was a better way to go about the whole situation. Right now, it seems like Apple tried to keep the fact that data was shared with the company under wraps, and for any company, that’s never a good look.

Read next: The Hidden Cost of Innovation: How Tech Giants Are Funding the Backbone of AI
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

The Hidden Cost of Innovation: How Tech Giants Are Funding the Backbone of AI

With more usage of AI tech and new technology, many tech giants are investing billions of dollars for AI data centers so they can meet the demand for computational energy that can handle the latest AI infrastructure and workload. Data centers have hefty operating costs but they make the running of AI data centers possible. Data from JP Morgan and New Street Research shows how much big techs are spending on AI data centers, including software, operating expenses, depreciation and electricity.

The most investment on AI data centers is being done by Microsoft, with most spent on GPUs($20 billion) and other AI spend ($20 billion) which makes total capex of $40 billion. The cost spent on training and R&D by Microsoft is $3 billion, cost on inference is $3 billion which makes total operating cost of $6 billion. This makes a total of $46 billion that Microsoft is spending on AI data centers. The second most spendings on AI data centers is by Google, with a total of $33 billion. The total capital expenditure by Google is $29 billion while the operating costs are $4 billion.

• Related: Water Consumption By American Data Centers Jumps To Record High As Environmentalists Warn Of Devastating Consequences

Followed by Google, Meta is spending the third most on AI data centers, with $23 billion total capex, $11 billion on GPUs and other chips while $12 billion on other AI spend. The total operating cost of AI data centers that Meta is spending on is $4 billion and this makes a total of $27 billion that Meta is spending on AI data centers. Amazon is also investing a lot on its AI data centers, with a total of $19 billion. $8 billion are spent on GPUs and other chips, while $8 billion is the other AI spend. The total capital expenditure on AI data centers by Amazon is $16 billion while $3 billion is the total operating cost. Google and Amazon are spending a lot on training their AI models and the training cost for AI models is getting more and more expensive.

• Also read: Data Center Surge: USA Tops Global List with 5,388 Centers, AI Adoption Fuels Growth

The most data centers are owned by Microsoft (300), followed by 215 data centers of Amazon. Microsoft has partnered up with BlackRock to start a $100 billion plan through Global Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure that will focus on developing AI data centers and provide energy which will support those AI data centers.

Company	Spending on GPUs and Other Chips	Other AI-related Expenses	Total Capital Expenditures	Spending on Training and Research	Spending on Inference	Total Operating Costs
Microsoft	$20 billion	$20 billion	$40 billion	$3 billion	$3 billion	$6 billion
Meta	$11 billion	$12 billion	$23 billion	$2 billion	$2 billion	$4 billion
Google	$14 billion	$15 billion	$29 billion	$3 billion	$1 billion	$4 billion
Amazon	$8 billion	$8 billion	$16 billion	$2 billion	$1 billion	$3 billion

Read next:

• New Research Shows ChatGPT Uses Too Much Water to Keep its Data Centers Cool Which Can Have Harmful Effects to Environment

• Mobile Addiction Soars, Americans Check Phones 205 Times Daily, Survey Reveals
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Mobile Addiction Soars, Americans Check Phones 205 Times Daily, Survey Reveals

Mobile phone use has increased and a lot of people need to check their smartphones every five minutes for an update, email or message. But this surge in smartphone use raises serious concerns, similar to the overuse of other technologies. ReviewsOrg conducted a survey to analyze the annual smartphone usage habits of the average American. Talking about the daily basis, the survey shows that an average American checks his phone at least 205 times in a day. Checking every five minutes totals 2.5 months yearly. But how drastic is this year’s growth?

The data from the survey shows that there has been a 42.3% increase in mobile usage since last year. The same survey conducted in 2023 found that people used to check their phones 144 times on average in a day. In the survey conducted in 2024, there were 80.6% respondents who said that they check their phones within 10 minutes after they wake up, while 65.7% admitted to using phones while on the toilet. There were also some respondents who said that they have texted someone even if they were in the same room as them (53.7%) and some respondents also said that they checked their phones while they were on a date (38.1%). 27% of the respondents also said that they use their phones when they are driving.

There were 43% of the respondents who considered themselves as mobile addicts. When some mobile phone users receive a notification, they check it within five minutes (76%). The highest score was of millennials (89.5%) who check notifications within ten minutes of receiving them, followed by Gen-Z and Gen-X (84% each), Boomers (69%) and Silent Generation (53.3%). Unsurprisingly, Gen-Z have the most screen time, with average 6 hours 18 minutes spent on their phones daily, followed by Millennials who spent average 6 hours 2 minutes on their phones every day this year. Generation-X spent an average 4 hours 54 minutes on their phones, followed by Boomers who spent 3 hours 18 minutes on their phones. The only generation with little to none mobile phone use was Silent Generation with an average 1 hour six minutes spent on mobile phones daily. Millennials picked their mobile phones the most with an average 324 times per day.

In addition to being anxious about missing any notifications, 80% of millennials are also anxious about losing their mobile phones, which is way more than other generations.

Read next: Global VR Shipments Decline, Meta and Apple Face Shifts in Consumer Preferences
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Clickbait, Chaos, and Burnout: How This Year Redefined Our Social Media Experience

2024 was a draining year for users who struggled to navigate through many of the popular social media platforms. Some faced incredible challenges while others just couldn’t wrap their heads around what was going on.

It’s clear that the goal of many platforms is to attract the masses but despite knowing this, it wouldn’t be wrong to mention that this realm has transformed into a bizarre beast.

You enter a platform and feel like you’re getting sucked into a stream of material that’s designed to trap people. This includes relentless amounts of shopping ads that you’ve got little to no interest in. It’s safe to say that many including us didn’t have fun.

Let’s take a look at Instagram for instance. You open up that platform and get greeted by ads for bizarre products like bidets. Once you ignore and start scrolling, you’ll see even more alarmingly weird ads about lingerie, shoes, and explicit toys. Most of the sellers are from AliExpress and then you question how you landed up here in the first place.

Soon after that, the misery isn’t over as you’re facing Reels from unknown sources featuring off-target topics. After that, you do see a post or two from your list but then realize that you need to switch off the ‘suggested posts’ feature again which is a must every month. If not, be ready to face the consequences of seeing the most random things getting published on and off.

We won’t lie, we do get distracted more often than not. It could be an adorable cat making cute expressions or a famous chef stirring the pot with another delicious recipe. All in all, we’re in love all over again and forget the misery that brought us here in the first place.

Before we know it, we’re at a popular influencer couple’s page who are trying to make the audience laugh with some of the most bizarre routines. You might even see a woman bombarding herself with makeup but the transformation is so severe that some argue that it’s catfishing and illegal to do this.

We’d like to confirm that this issue isn’t solely on Instagram only but on TikTok as well. The only difference here is that its For You page is more rightly adapted to showing you things that you’ll actually love and not just hate.

Sometimes, procrastination gets you here and all sucked up into something that steals a good few hours when you could have been more productive. Nevertheless, we have to admit that getting caught up in the social media trend isn’t fun anymore.

Some videos aren’t even real and that makes you distrust society even more now than before. There are times we feel we might get trapped while scrolling mindlessly and watching content that we never liked or will like. And it happens so frequently.

It’s no wonder Oxford shared the word for 2024 was brain rot which is the devastating consequence of spending long hours online, watching some stupid things that you shouldn’t be. It’s similar to the word that Australia spoke about called enshittification which explains how apps ruin over time as different firms continue to chase profits.

If we had to sum it up, social media apps were once curated with the idea of promoting connections and friendship. Today, it’s as far away from real human interactions as we are from the moon. Another example is Facebook where you could end up if you’d like to an update from a loved one or people you adore. But even that is now filled with unwanted reels and useless AI slop and low quality click-bait clutter.

Next comes Elon Musk’s controversial X app which fails to hold any of the roots of the old Twitter app. It’s not fun anymore when you’re slammed with politics and propaganda from all directions.

Moving on to Meta's Threads, it’s definitely a better version of X and a hotspot for many who are sick of Musk and his erratic behavior. But it’s causing concern amongst many for uncredited videos and provocative content. There are custom feeds now that feature the chance to explore certain topics but some pages are full of nothing but engagement-bait posts. Another thing that bothers some people is the follow feed for users does not have a default view and no option exists for changing it. Threads, despite its millions of active users, includes few creators or content producers from diverse industries. Similarly, platforms like Mastodon and Bluesky, though smaller in user base, give off an "in-crowd" vibe. For many, engaging with these new social networks feels like stepping into a room full of familiar faces where they remain the outsider. Unlike Threads, which may soon introduce ads, neither Bluesky nor Mastodon serves as a thinly veiled shopping platform—at least for now.

To sum it up, social media is not worth it anymore for many who feel we’re reaching that burnout stage of taking in too much. We need someplace that feels more human and inviting, not robotic. Let’s hold a positive mindset for 2025 and hope more change happens but this time, for the good.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next: The Future of Social Media: Meta’s AI Personas and the Shift Toward Digital Engagement
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Stop Guessing, Start Knowing: The Social Media Tools You Need for 2025

Keeping track of your performance and campaigns on social media platforms is important to maintain your presence. It helps you in making better decisions for your brand and profile. Being aware of your analytics also allows you to check where you stand in comparison to others.

Many social media analytic tools are available to analyze social media performance. Each one of them offers its own set of features to provide users with better analysis of their social media activity.

For starters it is important to note that various analytics tools offer unique paid features for brands, but newcomers or startups can start with basic built-in tools like Facebook Insights or Instagram Analytics. For more advanced needs in 2025, here are the top social media analytics tools to consider:

HubSpot

HubSpot is the best choice if you are running huge business-related campaigns on social media. On HubSpot, users can conveniently do all types of marketing.

Its features include media management tools, detailed reporting and web traffic.

Sprout Social

Sprout Social can help big companies to lay down their strategies effectively. It offers competitive reports, which show your comparative position on social media. It also offers management tools, detailed reporting and hashtag tracking tools.

Google Analytics

If you are just interested in finding out the traffic inflows to your website, Google Analytics is a good option. The tool provides data that allows users to know what content and which social media platform attract the most traffic. Moreover, its demographic depiction of data allows users to make better decisions.

Keyhole

Keyhole provides analytical data about brand trends. It is a great tool to find out about the perception of people about your product on social media.

Its main features include competitive analysis, social media trends and management tools.

Rival IQ

Use Rival IQ if you want to know about how successful you are on social media and about benchmarks. Plus, Rival IQ provides users with detailed reporting, competitive analysis and social listening tools.

Buffer

Buffer provides not only social media management/scheduling tools, but also paid versus organic reports, detailed reporting and white label reports. Social teams focusing on content management should prefer Buffer app to others. One thing that hasn’t changed about Buffer is that their free plan still works like a charm.

Hootsuite

Almost all types of businesses employ Hootsuite for analysis of their social media presence. The tool offers management tools, detailed reporting and competitor reporting. Moreover, it also allows repurposing of top-performing posts on the platforms. A downside of this tool is the lack of a free tier for extended basic testing.

Brandwatch

It is a social media and influencer marketing tool that allows users to engage at the speed of social. It provides great social listening tools, benchmarks and marketing tools.

Sendible

Sendible has a user-friendly dashboard. The tool offers management tools, automatic postings and tracking of multiple campaigns.

SEMRush Social

SEMRush Social is used across all major social media platforms for social media management and analytics. This tool also offers in-app social postings.

Tailwind

Tailwind is specially designed for visual-focused platforms like Pinterest and Instagram. It provides management tools as well as detailed reporting about your social media performance.

Selecting the right social media analytics tool is key to refining your strategy, optimizing performance, and staying ahead of competitors. Whether you're a startup using built-in tools or an established brand leveraging advanced analytics, the insights gained will help you make data-driven decisions for sustained growth.

Read next: Social Media Research Dominates Buying Decisions as TikTok Becomes Top Platform for Product Discovery
by Ehtasham Ahmad via Digital Information World

Global VR Shipments Decline, Meta and Apple Face Shifts in Consumer Preferences

According to Counterpoint's Global Extended Reality (AR/VR) Headset Model Tracker, the global VR headset shipment has declined 4% YoY and 16% QoQ in Q3 of 2024. Tethered VR headset segment saw a big drop in Q3 2024 at 50% and it is the primary reason for decline of VR headset shipment this quarter. Despite the decline, Meta is still dominating the global VR market at 65 shares this quarter, but it still saw some decrease in its shipments as compared to previous quarters. The reason was decrease in sales of Meta Quest 3 because consumers wanted to buy a cheaper headset, Meta Quest 3S.

Apple Vision Pro saw a double growth in its shipments because it was launched in Europe, China and APAC. But there are predictions that Apple is going to see a decline in shipments of Apple Vision Pro in Q4 2024. In H2 2024, total shipments of Apple can be 90% international sales. Now we have to see once the data gets shared. Pico also released its latest Pico 4 Ultra in Europe and China and this helped in the 6% QoQ growth of this headset, but there was a 2% decrease YoY in global shipments of the same model. China was really anticipating Pico 4 Ultra because it can be used in entertainment projects and large-space VR tourism.

There was a 29% decrease in Sony’s YoY shipments but when its PC adapter launched, its QoQ shipments increased because of the hype around this VR model and the promotional campaigns in Europe and North America. DPVR also saw a good growth with 14% QoQ increase and 67% YoY increase. Shipments of VR headsets that had MR capabilities increased to 80% from just 6% in Q3 2023. It is also expected that it can increase to 90% in Q4 2024.

Many VR companies are testing different features on their latest headsets to stand out in the market, with Apple also testing OLED displays on its Vision headset. It will be cost effective too, but won't make the experience for users bad. There are some industry advancements in Snap’s Spectacle’ 24 AR glasses and Meta’s Orion AR glasses. AR+AI smart glasses are going to see some growth in late 2024, which will gain momentum in 2025. Many of the companies are now working on AR+AI glasses and we are sure that we'll see some new products within next year.

Read next: eSIM Awareness Rises, But Reluctance Keeps Adoption in Check
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

eSIM Awareness Rises, But Reluctance Keeps Adoption in Check

According to Counterpoint’s Consumer eSIM Awareness Survey, 35% of the respondents are aware of eSIM. This shows that eSIM is slowly being adopted even though there are no efforts from network operators and eSIM vendors to raise awareness about this emerging tech. The survey also found that respondents who are aware of eSIM are also owners of eSIM compatible devices which means that compatibility is a big factor in awareness of adoption of eSIMs. The survey was conducted among 3,535 respondents from countries like Germany, Japan, US, Poland, France, UK and Canada. The survey also found that 39% of the respondents of the survey are using eSIMs on their devices. This shows that even though people are aware of eSIM and know its importance, there is still low adaptability of eSIM.

Research Director at Counterpoint, Mohit Agrawal, said that there are very clear advantages of eSIM like its flexibility and multi-SIM functionality, but it seems that people are still not using it. Using eSIM is a great way to not use multiple SIMs in a single device because eSIM can do the functions of two or more SIMs at a time smoothly. The survey also revealed that 61% of the respondents say that they do not prefer eSIM as their SIM connectivity option, showing people's reluctance. As there are also device compatibility issues in the adoption of eSIM, many people use their SIM cards or hybrid models as they use devices that are not compatible with eSIM. By continuing efforts to raise awareness about eSIM, some individuals might reconsider their perspective on the technology.

The respondents who use eSIMs agreed that their eSIM adoption process was smooth and friendly and only a small number of people said they find the eSIM adoption process difficult and complex. The biggest challenge eSIM vendors are facing is lack of promotion and awareness about eSIM. If efforts are made for the awareness and adoption of eSIM, it can result in mass adoption but it still seems impossible. Research analyst at Counterpoint, Siddhant Cally, said that eSIM adoption can become more widespread if it starts getting compatible with budget mobile phones as they are currently dominating the smartphone market. 90% of the respondents who are currently using eSIM said that they are satisfied with it and this means that once there is awareness about eSIM and people start using it, they will be satisfied with this change.

Read next: The Future of Social Media: Meta’s AI Personas and the Shift Toward Digital Engagement
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

AI-Powered Replies and Business Platform Connectivity Arrive on WhatsApp iOS

WhatsApp Beta for iOS 24.25.10.84 update is here. The messaging app has added two features, AI replies and connection for business platforms. Earlier, WhatsApp had announced these two features for WhatsApp business app for Android and it was about time that iOS got these features too. This new update for iOS will surely facilitate business owners who manage their businesses through WhatsApp business app. Soon, WhatsApp business users on iOS will be able to connect their business app to AI. AI integration will happen on WhatsApp business after users will scan a QR code which will activate AI on the app.

AI replies is a handy feature for WhatsApp business because sometimes customers message out of business hours or when a team member is unavailable, so AI can help reply to the customers in the meanwhile. Sometimes there are also some frequently asked questions for which the replies are almost the same, so the AI integration can reply to those frequently asked questions too. Another thing is that AI replies on WhatsApp business can also provide customers all the information in detail and can even give them answers according to the customers’ needs and wants. In addition to that, AI can also tell customers prices and specifications of the products and services, which can facilitate customers in their decision making process.

AI replies will automatically become inactive when the business decides to answer them manually so there is a smooth transition between the queries and replies. Customers will be informed beforehand that they are being AI assisted so transparency remains. As AI answers may not always be accurate, businesses can provide Meta their feedback so the company can improve their AI so the businesses can run smoothly.

Another feature that WhatsApp for iOS is getting is the business platform connection feature which will allow users to connect their Business Platform to their WhatsApp Business app. This way businesses will be able to manage both of their accounts on each platform simultaneously. After scanning the QR code, businesses will have the option to share their six month chat history to WhatsApp business which will provide important context to customer interactions. These two new features are available for some beta testers right now and will be soon available for other users through WhatsApp update on App Store.

Image: WABetaInfo

Read next: The Future of Social Media: Meta’s AI Personas and the Shift Toward Digital Engagement
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Trump Asks Supreme Court to Postpone TikTok Ban Ahead of Inauguration

With just days until his inauguration, President-elect Donald Trump has requested the Supreme Court delay a law that could ban TikTok in the U.S. The law, scheduled to take effect on January 19, 2025—just one day before Trump’s inauguration—has been described by his legal team as “unfortunately timed.”

In an amicus brief submitted to the court, Trump’s attorney, D. John Sauer, argued that the incoming president should have the opportunity to address the issue “through political means.” The brief emphasized Trump’s extensive experience in dealmaking, citing his ability to negotiate a solution that balances national security concerns with preserving TikTok’s presence in the United States. Sauer’s filing also referenced Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, as a testament to his understanding of digital platforms and their implications.

TikTok’s legal team has also raised concerns over the timing of the ban, describing it as potentially disruptive and advocating for a delay to allow further dialogue. The company has sought to engage with policymakers to resolve the government’s national security worries, a sentiment echoed by Trump’s legal filing.

This marks a notable shift in Trump’s stance on TikTok compared to his first presidential term. In 2020, he actively pursued a ban on the platform, even suggesting that Microsoft could broker a deal to acquire TikTok in a way that would benefit the U.S. Treasury. However, his position has evolved in recent years. Speaking to CNBC in March, Trump criticized the idea of banning TikTok, arguing that it could inadvertently strengthen Facebook, which he has labeled “an enemy of the people” and a competitor to his own platform.

The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments regarding the TikTok ban on January 10, 2025, just days before the law’s enforcement. The outcome of this case may determine whether the incoming administration will have the chance to broker a deal that avoids a ban while addressing concerns over national security.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next:

• Optimizing Websites for AI Crawlers: Key Insights from Vercel’s Latest Report

• Unchecked Sharing of Political Content Fuels Misinformation on Social Media
by Asim BN via Digital Information World

Unchecked Sharing of Political Content Fuels Misinformation on Social Media

A new study published in Nature Human Behavior finds that most of the social media users share posts without reading and confirming the whole content. The analysis was made on 35 million Facebook posts and it was found that 75% of the users didn't engage with the post completely before sharing it. The aim of the study was to find out how and why people share posts on social media without reading them first. To investigate all of this behavior, the researchers took a dataset of 35 million URLs shared on Facebook from 2017 to 2020. The researchers focused on 4,617 domains from The New York Times, CNN, BBC, Fox News and their URLs during the four year period.

The research included two areas – the patterns of sharing content related to politics and sharing content without clicking on it or reading it completely. A machine learning classifier separates political content from non-political content with the help of keywords used in them. Different user behaviors from political views like neutral, liberal and conservative were analyzed to find if there was some connection between the political views of users and the content they share without reading it. Among all the URLs which were analyzed, 75% of them were shared without checking the full content and the trend was stronger in the content related to politics. The URLs which had incorrect or false content were also likely to be shared more than the content with correct and true information.

Users simply glance at the highlight, blurb and the news network the content was shared by and hit the share button which then spreads misinformation to other people too. The researchers also found that the content which had more politically extreme information was more likely to get shared without being clicked or read completely. Users shared the content which aligned with their political beliefs the most and that's why their shared content was biased. Conservatives share links five times more than liberals before completely reading them, and this shows a concerning trend about how social media users are engaging with posts.

The study has some limitations too like how the study was only done on the basis of aggregated data and not on individual behavior, and the study also just focuses on Facebook. If we need to know more about user behavior when it comes to sharing content without reading or clicking on it, we need to analyze different social media platforms as well as behavior of users individually and on different devices.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next:

• AI-Powered Search Tools Give Rise To Inaccurate and Malicious Results, New Study Claims

• How Can AI Help You Create Stunning Digital Designs?
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

OpenAI Eyes For-Profit Model Amid Strategic Discussions with Microsoft

Tech giant OpenAI appears to be on the move to transform into a ‘for-profit’ company amid serious discussions with top investor and software giant Microsoft.

It’s a move that many saw coming for a long time and also one that tech billionaire Elon Musk wished to block from day one. But from what can be seen in new reports published by The Information, it’s finally happening.

Both tech giants have been conducting discussions since the start of October about restructuring the entire AI firm. It’s no surprise that Microsoft is in on the deal as it’s already invested a whopping $13B in the company.

One source familiar with the whole matter was quick to delineate more about how most discussions revolved around four leading topics. This entails details about the equity stake that Microsoft holds if the software giant will continue to be the sole cloud provider, the timeframe Microsoft can maintain rights over OpenAI’s intellectual goods, and if the company will carry on and take close to 20% of the overall revenue.

While both companies are staying rather hush on the matter, it’s definitely not any major secret at this moment in time. The tech giant made it clear how it hopes to replan the entire ‘for-profit’ company that will not be controlled by the nonprofit board.

When asked to detail more about the report, the representative for OpenAI said the company is just focusing more on bringing benefits to all. They hope to work alongside the board to make sure that they’re in the best position to succeed with that mission. Remember, nonprofit is still the core of the company’s main objectives and it hopes to continue with that.

Meanwhile, the entire process of restructuring does not come too easy for the tech giant. That’s all thanks to Elon Musk and his legal woes that keep holding this company back.

The tech billionaire and Tesla CEO wants to prevent OpenAI from converting into a for-profit organization. His lawyers argued that it needs to be barred from getting benefits of a wrongful deal which includes very sensitive data through its partnership with Microsoft.

On the other hand, the company is also making room for more sales personnel in what it feels is the new paradigm shift inside the corporate AI sector. Remember, the is continuing to sign new documents with different industries like health, law, manufacturing, and more.

OpenAI wants the world to know that AI is the future and that’s why a shift is necessary. They are achieving that by unlocking some wonderfully unique and new working ways.

Image: DIW

Read next: 

• Blockchain + AI: Decentralized Machine Learning Platforms Changing the Game

• Who’s Funding Open Source? The $1.7B Question Finally Answered

• How Can AI Help You Create Stunning Digital Designs? 
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

How AI is Revolutionizing Executive Coaching: A New Era of Leadership Development

Source: Pexels

Leadership has quickly become an integral part of modern businesses as it is a key aspect of success. Its importance has risen executive coaching to the highest degree as a must-use tool for all businesses. Through it, individuals can refine their leadership skills and improve their overall productivity benefiting both the party and business. However, in the trend of ever-evolving markets, executive coaching is undergoing a significant development. This is of course referring to the rise of artificial intelligence and its application in various systems.

Here we will cover how AI has made its way into executive coaching and what this means for businesses and individuals alike. With that said let's take a look at the ways AI is reshaping the system and benefiting leadership development.

AI Personalization

If you are not familiar executive coaching is personalized coaching aimed at improving the skills and thought processes of an individual. The system functions through regular meetings between a leadership coach and an individual. In these sessions, they work together to identify and improve the flaws and virtues of the individual. This system has proven to be incredibly successful as a tool to prepare leaders for upcoming challenges.

Through the introduction of AI, executive coaching has gained the benefit of even further personalization. By using data analysis and machine learning artificial intelligence can assist in determining an executive's performance, communication style, virtues, and areas of improvement. This eases the process of traditional executive coaching by speeding up the introductory process and allowing users to ease into the experience.

Furthermore, through artificial intelligence leaders get the ability to bounce their ideas off of chatbots in between sessions. This opens up a whole new space for personal growth and improved results during executive coaching. On the other hand, coaches can utilize AI to more easily develop personalized plans for their clients. Overall, the introduction of AI does much for the space of executive coaching and will continue to be a useful tool.

Real-Time Feedback

As we already briefly mentioned, artificial intelligence is very useful for its implications of real-time feedback. These snappy insights are key as they will empower those undergoing executive coaching to grow. This data created and gathered by AI tools can also assist the system by getting a deeper understanding of the leader. Which directly results in better and more personalized plans that focus on the needs of the client. Additionally, this will allow leaders and their coaches to track their progress on certain goals. The immediate feedback is a unique way to gamify the course and keep leaders engaged for longer periods.

Artificial intelligence's applications in this manner also allow for a degree of accessibility in a previously narrow space. As these tools can be utilized anywhere individuals can act independently from their coaches. From here they can grow and prepare for their next session without any issues.

Scalability and Efficiency

Executive coaching is an incredibly popular tool that many businesses can utilize. Its application is much simpler for smaller organizations compared to larger ones. With this comes a significant time cost that takes up a lot of funds and human resources. However, with the integration of artificial intelligence and specialized tools, this problem is almost completely solved. These tools are effective and scalable solutions for any business. Through their ability to uniquely cater to any number of employees, they are the perfect tool for larger businesses.

Furthermore, AI tools are the best way to get consistent coaching experiences across a wide workforce no matter their location. This ensures that everyone gets the same and best treatment possible. These traits create a unified experience and leadership culture within the business at no cost to the employees. Moreover, the accessibility and cost-effectiveness of AI tools make them the best way to execute executive coaching on a large scale.

Enhancing Decision Making

Among all of the virtues executive coaching fosters its most impactful area is improved decision-making. This is a skill that is fundamental for all executives to have as it is considered a critical skill for the role. Without it, executives are not prepared to make the best choices in the ever-evolving state of modern industries. By partaking in executive coaching consistently and preemptively executives can be prepared for any changes and crises that may come up.

Furthermore, this improved decision-making will reduce the risk at all levels of business. Be it navigating internal affairs or organizational changes, executive coaching will ensure productivity. With the integration of more tools such as AI, we are sure to see more benefits come from executive coaching. This makes the future of business very promising and signals a slight shift in the way employees and executives will be trained. However, only time will tell how these systems truly reshape the landscape of business.

by Asim BN via Digital Information World

Study Explores How Digital Maturity Shapes Social Media Connections in Teens

According to a new research published in Computers in Human Behaviour, digital maturity in adolescents can lead to how connected they feel on social media. The research says that teens that are more digitally mature can make more deep connections on social media and it doesn't mean that they have to be more active on social media. This can help them make more friends inline as well as make goals in their social interactions. This raises many questions about social connectedness in adolescents and the use of digital media in their everyday lives. There has been much research done on the use of social media and its effects on the personality of adolescents. But there were only a few studies which talked about digital maturity and its role in social connectedness.

The author of the study, Teresa Koch, said that she aimed to provide an insight about how young people are using social media and digital literacy to form connections in the online world. Many young people are using the concept of digital maturity to learn new things about themselves and the world on the internet. The researchers did two studies, cross sectional one and longitudinal study. In the cross sectional study, there were 257 adolescent participants from Spain and the researchers studied how these adolescents are engaging with their real life friends and holding their goals between social connectedness and digital maturity. The second study was longitudinal study with 316 adolescents and their parents. The study spanned over one year and the researchers studied respectful online behaviour and emotional regulation in adolescents. Parents help in the evaluation of their teens’ online activities like scrolling, posting or commenting.

Digital Maturity Inventory, which assesses respect towards others, regulation of negative emotions and individual growth in digital settings, was used and all the participants in the research were given scores. The adolescents who scored high in the test were found to have more digital maturity, and used online platforms to make their relationship stronger with their in real life friends. This shows that adolescents who are digital mature can keep up with their offline relationships all while being online. It was also found that adolescents who had high scores in digital maturity were also likely to have compassionate goals as they aim to provide emotional support to others. Researchers also found that digital maturity isn't linked with active use of social media, and doesn't always lead to social connectedness.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next: Disrupted Sleep Cycles Harm Mental Health, Reveals Intern Health Study
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World