3 graphs to see how your streaming, social, and podcasts are doing

It has scratched many jaws about how the pandemic has changed the way we interact with the internet, and how that may change again as the pandemic recedes. was convinced that it was “accelerating digital transformation.” I may not be so sure now.

But to put it another way, if you went to bed at the beginning of 2020 and just woke up, things probably haven’t changed as much as you think. .

You can write more about this. But sometimes a picture (in this case, a picture) is better than words. Let’s take a quick look at how we spend our time online, what’s changed, and what that means.

For example, this summer marked a major milestone for the world of streaming video. According to Nielsen, this is the first time Americans have watched more streaming TV than cable.

By the way, this chart may fluctuate a bit this fall when traditional TV networks announce new shows (streaming always brings something new to the screen).But even as big media companies and their investors might like it, it’s a reminder that the genie of streaming never goes back in the bottle. to come up with—something Netflix is ​​just about toand new competitors such as Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery must do as well.

Meanwhile, the company formerly known as Facebook is making a lot of money — Meta posted about $40 billion in profits in 2021 — but users are another story. Growth for all apps has slowed, with the original Facebook service really losing users late last year before booming again the following spring.

If you read this column regularly, you know that TikTok is a big problem for Meta. It’s a problem Meta often points out, and one that they’re trying to solve by making their app more like TikTok. But Facebook has another long-standing competitor, YouTube. Just because the world’s largest video service doesn’t get much media attention doesn’t mean Facebook isn’t the world’s largest video service. That’s why it’s still hugely popular among young internet users, which Facebook hopes to win back.

And finally, there’s a chart that’s particularly appealing to the author of this article, since we both made podcasts for a living. no matter what is going on around them. Important Note: This data from the measurement service Podtrac does not tell us whether the number of people consuming podcasts is growing. Also, there’s really no good data about it. Spotify, which has spent a lot of money on its podcast strategy, says the number of podcast listeners continues to grow.