[eMarketer] User trust in social platforms is falling, study

Digital trust is the confidence people have that a platform will protect their information and provide a safe environment for them to create and engage with content.

 The sixth annual benchmark survey of US social media users reveals that trust in social media platforms has declined substantially this year in key areas including privacy, safety, and ad relevance.

The online survey, conducted in May-June 2022 among 2,225 US adult social media users ages 18-76, showed security of data and privacy was the leading factor affecting trust. But all nine platforms in the study—Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Reddit, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube—lost ground in this area.

According to eMarketer, for platforms where user growth is slow or even declining, such as Facebook and Twitter, building trust is one way to keep existing users. But platforms whose user growth is still on an upswing, like TikTok, shouldn’t rest on their laurels; building a foundation of trust is far easier than trying to restore it.

In a tough economic environment, trust can help a social platform stand out among competing ad venues. Those that foster positive user engagement and interactions will benefit from having a user base that is also more likely to engage with the advertising.

Read the full eMarketer article here

www.emarketer.com