VR Gaming Has Failed to Pick Up Despite Heavy Investments from Meta and Sony

It’s been about a decade since Facebook acquired Oculus, and the company was intending to lean even more heavily on its VR headset subsidiary after changing its name to Meta. VR Headsets are meant to be a part of the metaverse, but initially Meta will be focusing on introducing VR games that could be the next big trend in the gaming world with all things having been considered and taken into account.

In spite of the fact that this is the case, it really doesn’t seem like VR gaming is picking up much steam. Meta isn’t the only one that is investing pretty heavily in the industry either. Sony is yet another multinational giant that is attempting to use VR to bolster their sales, but with all of that having been said and now out of the way it is important to note that their combined efforts have failed to even make a dent in the world of gaming.

Video games currently have a user penetration rate of 45%, but VR headsets are only being purchased by a miniscule 1% of customers. What’s more, the rate of growth for this industry is not looking too good either. VR headsets are predicted to reach a paltry 1.7% market penetration by 2027. By comparison, video games are expected to reach a whopping 51% of market penetration which will make VR even more irrelevant than might have been the case otherwise.

This makes it seem like VR gaming and the use of VR headsets in general will remain a niche segment of the market. If this happens to be true, it could create seismic changes in the tech world. Meta will suffer greatly because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up bankrupting the country in the long run. Sony might escape relatively unscathed, but chances are they will never focus on VR ever again.

Companies often try out bold new products, but few bank as heavily on them as Meta has. This could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

Source: Statista
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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Only 9% of Americans Trust Self Driving Cars, New Poll Reveals

Self driving cars are often touted as the next big wave of the automotive industry. The benefits of autonomous vehicles are supposed to include reducing traffic and helping people to multitask more easily than might have been the case otherwise. In spite of the fact that this is the case, it doesn’t seem like all that many Americans are ready to trust cars that can operate themselves automatically.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that a recent poll from AAA revealed American sentiments in this regard. According to the findings of this poll, around 68% of Americans said that they were downright afraid of self driving cars. 23% said that they were not all that sure about how they truly felt about them, and just 9% said that they felt like they could trust them to help them out with their day to day transportation needs.

One thing to mention here is that the proportion of Americans who can’t seem to trust vehicles that are capable of autonomous operationality has gone up since last year. Back in 2022, 55% of Americans revealed such sentiments, and this proportion has clearly gone up by a staggering 13 percentage points within the span of a singe year.

However, some are saying that a lack of consumer trust is not a significant hurdle because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up getting overcome in a few years. Customers are often wary of new forms of tech, and companies like Tesla might have made matters worse by jumping the gun and selling self driving cars that weren’t very safe.

Self driving cars definitely have a long way to go with all things having been considered and taken into account. Obtaining consumer trust will be crucial if this industry is expected to grow. The negative shift in sentiments is a clear setback, but the huge amount of investment that is going into the creation of self driving vehicles might be able to turn it around in the long term.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Social Media Industry Benchmarks Study 2023 - Unveiling The Changes That Cause Changes

Having data at your fingertips is what helps you keep up with the social media updates and the last changes that take place behind the scene.

And when I say “behind the scene”, I mean analytics data that unveils industry changes influenced by fluctuations in metrics’ values for every social media network.

Luckily, the team from Socialinsider has recently launched an updated version of their social media industry benchmarks study, highlighting how engagement on social media is declining year after year.

Let’s find out together what happened on every social media network that influenced changes for top industries.

1.Key insights on social media engagement benchmarks

Socialinsider found that the engagement rate for all social media networks has gradually decreased.

On TikTok, the engagement rate calculated by followers is 4.25% on average, and the engagement rate calculated by views is 5.10%.

This shows that the engagement rate for TikTok, on average, has dropped by 28%.

For Instagram, the story is no different. For this social platform, the engagement rate is 0.60%, showing that it’s on a downward slope.

On Instagram, Reels is the best-performing type of content.

When it comes to Facebook, the engagement rate is situated at an average of 0.15%, while the engagement rate for Twitter ranks last, with 0.05% on average.

When making a comparison with the other three well-known social media networks, the highest engagement rate is on TikTok, with a value of 4.25%.

This is what gives hope to marketers, thinking that videos are the key to an increasing engagement rate.

2.Social media benchmarks for every platform

Brands that establish an online presence on every social media network can easily make a distinction between the audiences from each of them and how they respond differently to each content type.

To make proper use of the data obtained via social media benchmarks, you need specific insights for your industry. This way, you can use the data to build a marketing strategy with higher chances of success.

By comparing the performance of top 20 industries depending on engagement rate in 2021 and 2022, Socialinsider obtained promising results for the development of accurate strategies.

The popularity of TikTok is easily influencing the manner in which audiences react to different content types on other social media networks.

Therefore, brands learnt to adapt, making room for change and updated marketing strategies.

The Beverages industry is the most engaging sector on TikTok, with an engagement rate of 7.69%.

When thinking about Instagram, where Reels have transformed into TikTok videos’ greatest competition, there are some industries that managed to make a difference.

This year’s social media industry benchmarks showed that the most engaging sector on Instagram is the FMCG Food industry.

The FMCG Food sector has an engagement rate that reached 0.96%.

In comparison with the platform’s overall low engagement rate, numerous brands from the Airlines industry, FMCG Food, Arts & crafts, Beverages, Travel and Alcohol can be proud of their results.

Industry benchmarks show that all these sectors have above-average engagement scores.



When looking at Facebook, despite the overall dropping engagement rate, there are some sectors that feature a higher performance, standing out.

The Beverages and FMCG Food sectors differentiate themselves from the rest of the sectors, when it comes to the engagement rate registered on Facebook.

When considering Twitter, its engagement rate has remained steady for quite a while now.

However, regarding the engagement rate, the sector that reached a new high on Twitter is the Arts & crafts industry.

This sector has a double engagement rate in comparison with the overall score for other social media networks.

TikTok proved it already: videos rock on social. It set the bar high for other social media networks and now users prefer videos instead of using other forms of content.

The reason is pretty obvious. Videos are more entertaining, shorter and it takes less time to watch them.

The social network that quickly followed lead is Instagram, with the increasing popularity of Reels.

Data shows that Instagram Reels register an engagement rate of 0.93% on average, almost double if we compare it to the values registered for other kinds of posts.

There’s a reason why Reels manage to register such highs.

It is all thanks to the Reels’ double exposure, nurtured by the platform’s algorithm. Reels appear both in the regular Instagram feed (where there also appear carousels and images), and the Reels video feed.



Older social networks have also started riding this new wave of videos. Facebook now has its own Reels feature.

This shows that Facebook’s videos are the most engaging form of content, recording an engagement rate of 0.17%.

Relaying on our research, Twitter has the overall lowest engagement rate. However, an in-depth analysis of all average engagement rates for every content type on Twitter has revealed that videos can record the same values as they do on Facebook.

3. Best practices from experts inspired by social media industry benchmarks 2023

After getting all this data about all social media networks, brands can adjust or create new marketing strategies that fuel their growth and brand recognition.

Here are a few practices from experts inspired by the infos that you find in the social media industry benchmarks study 2023:

• Don’t repurpose videos from other social networks and utilize them on TikTok;
• Post relevant news related to trending content;
• Introduce the use of carousels to increase reach;
• Be careful when it comes to your audience’s interests;
• Post a Story every day for audience retention;
• Implement short-form videos, with a twist, sprinkled with a personal approach;
• Invest more time and resources to develop a loyal community;
• Try Twitter Spaces to connect with your audience.

Final thoughts

The study is meant to help marketers and brands who need a solid strategy based on numbers.

All the information obtained can help you change your social media content planning based on the latest trends and audience’s interests.

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by Irfan Ahmad via Digital Information World

Robocalls Decreased by 4% in February MoM

Robocalls can be a real nuisance because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up bombarding consumers with call that are advertising all kinds of products that they don’t want. What’s more, these calls are often being sent out by scammers in the hopes that their frequency will make customers more willing to accept out of frustration than might have been the case otherwise.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that the number of robocalls that consumers had do deal with declined by as much as 4% in February as compared to the month prior. Around 4.3 billion robocalls were recorded, significantly less than the nearly 4.5 million that was recorded in the month of January, according to YouMail Robocall Index.

In spite of the fact that this is the case, these numbers don’t tell the full story. February has three fewer days than January, so robocallers didn’t have quite as much time to get their numbers up. Furthermore, if we were to take a look at the data pertaining to robocalls stretching all the way back to August, a clearer picture starts to emerge.

Every month since August has seen between 4.2 million and 4.7 million robocalls on average. This shows that February was actually a pretty standard month with all things having been considered and taken into account.

Another thing to note here is that things start to look quite dire if you look at it on a per day basis. Back in January, around 145.5 million robocalls went to consumers each and every day. February saw this increase by as much as 6.3%, since robocallers contacted customers 154.6 million times per day.

Been that don’t seem to be going away anytime soon, and their numbers have been frustratingly stagnant and stable since at least the second half of 2022. Consumers will have to come up with creative ways to keep robocalls at bay, otherwise they may not get the chance to enjoy any peace with the incessant calls that are hawking fraudulent goods and trying to scam them.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Video Previews Can Boost Downloads, So Why Do Only 10% of Apps Use Them?

App developers have to do quite a lot to get people to download their apps from various platforms. One of the most useful things that come to mind is creating a video preview of the app because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up allowing customers to see whatever it has to offer.

According to a recent analysis, it turns out that apps on the Play Store are far more likely to have preview videos than those that are accessible on the Apple App Store. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that there are around 362,000 apps on the Play Store that currently offer video previews.

If we were to zero in on the App Store, there were only about 70,000 apps there that did the same. One reason for why preview videos are less prevalent on the App Store is that Apple makes it a little difficult for developers to upload videos in the first place. Regardless, tens of thousands of apps have still decided to push ahead with this type of advertising with all things having been considered and taken into account.

One thing to mention here is that gaming apps tend to have a higher proportion of preview videos. That makes sense since users will be more likely to play a game than might have been the case otherwise if they can get a glimpse of what the gameplay as well as the storyline might end up looking like.

Around 45% of apps that contained video previews across both the Play Store and the App Store were games. However, small scale apps with fewer than a thousand ratings were also fairly likely to use them since they need all the help that they can get to compete with larger app developers with a stronger foothold. About 75% of apps with fewer than 1,000 ratings were found to have preview videos, so the benefits of using them are quite apparent as far as they are concerned.

H/T: Appfigures

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

This Researcher Claims He Cracked The Code To Making Tweets Go Viral By Observing The App’s ‘For You’ Algorithm

A couple of months back, Ryan Broderick, a writer and researcher who claims to work online on a chronic basis noticed something interesting about Twitter.

He says that there was a clear engagement linked to his tweets and one specific one had to do with the saying, ‘fell off a cliff’.

Moreover, he shared with the world how he had his usual engagement on the app, and with 60,000 followers, they adored sending reactions whenever he posted something.

On an average basis, a man named Broderick says he loves to talk about the web in his newsletter which is dubbed Garbage Day. And he’d get around a few hundred to 1,000 retweets across his posts in a week’s time or similarly seen every alternative week. And it’s not something new, it was like that for a few years.

He started to write again and soon, his work got recognition and a feature across Substack. Now, he’s working as one of Buzzfeed’s top reporters but then in 2020, he was terminated from his job for engaging in plagiarism. But he refused to comment on that news.

He says that figures and stats aren’t something that he enjoys speaking about a lot as he dubs them lame. But when Elon Musk bought Twitter, he saw how his retweets fell to just 5 on every tweet. And if he was really giving it a push, it probably reached 10.

In the same way, Musk lamented more about his engagement and was believed to have fired one of his workers over it.

Clearly, the writer was not happy with such low engagement stats. He felt dispirited regarding the matter and the fact that he was a freelancer meant that he was doing everything on his own and Twitter really helped him market things the right way.

On that note, he wished to seek some alternatives and even thought about giving up. Then a lightbulb struck to take a look at how Twitter’s ‘For You’ tab was doing after getting unveiled by Musk in January of this year. It was a lot like the Explore page on the Instagram app or For You as seen on TikTok.

Then in February, Musk also introduced a new feature called block counts and how that was affecting the algorithm. So on that note, this writer gave the app another shot and wanted to pay close attention to the viral tweet pattern.

After making a few tweaks to his own posts and habits of sending out tweets, the writer opted to publish one tweet that employed several methods. It worked, he was getting his engagement back and we’re talking 1500 retweets and 500,000 views. Meanwhile, his second one got 8000 retweets and some 13 million views.

The hypothesis was published in his newsletter on the app and got 600 retweets with 1 million views. It even came on Twitter’s page dubbed ‘For You’. Interestingly, all of the topics that got viral fame were very basic and evergreen.

His theory is that the For You algorithm was launched with accounts that came with tags for popular Twitter Topics. This was a sorting tool that the app rolled out in 2019.

He also noticed how the app was putting a lot of content that had already reached viral fame on display. This might be one reason why people were seeing these same tweets. It entailed some quotes and trending topic tweets too.

So as you can see, there are several things to consider when posting a tweet, and this theory is a great start for those that wish to use it at their disposal.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

The choice of GIF is associated with how one may communicate

The U.S.-based Brigham Young University recently conducted a study to identify different kinds of GIF users. Graphics Interchange Format, commonly known as GIF, are short scenes that are usually shared during a conversation to make it more engaging or better depict how one is feeling. Communicating through GIFs has become common as people of all ages use them according to their needs. According to the university’s communication professor, Scott Church, GIF senders can be divided into 3 categories, namely, enthusiasts, referentiality, and searchers.

Starting with the first type, Scott said that enthusiasts are well familiar with their GIFs. They send them to make the other person laugh, as they use it as a mode of expression. These kinds of people prefer GIFs over the use of emojis. Scott shared the thoughts of one of the enthusiasts. According to that person, GIFs can be used to restore lost communication. The professor further added that these types of users would keep themselves updated with trending topics and would later share their knowledge in the form of GIFs.

Moving on to the second type, referentiality. For them, Scott revealed that these are the people who use GIFs as a tool to reply to the GIFs they received from the other user. They believe that by doing so, they can match their style with the person they are communicating with. Referentialists may believe that if a GIF is found to be related to any entertainment show or game, others will find it hilarious. They may also use it as a way of getting out of awkward discussions. One of the referentiality expressed their views by saying that whenever they would find themselves in a position where replying was a must, even if the message itself was awkward, using a GIF would be their way out.

And lastly, the picky GIF users, also known as “searchers,” are the ones who would set sail to find that perfect GIF that goes with the topic under discussion. However, searchers would use GIFs only when the discussion is not serious. They would scroll down to find what they need.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World