Nine points for marketers to ponder from Digital 2020

First here are the headlines: Over half the world’s population now uses social media, according to the latest Digital 2020: July Global Statshot Report from We Are Social and Hootsuite. The study shows  that 3.96 billion people use social media today, accounting for around 51% of the global population. When considering that most social-media companies restrict the use of their platforms to people aged 13 and above, nearly two-thirds (65%) of the world’s total ‘eligible’ population now uses social media.

However, beneath the hood, here are some points that should interest marketers. 

1. Voice is being heard in Asia: According to data from this study (we can't use the slides here because the agencies involved declined to share them), India, Indonesia and China were the top three countries when it comes to using voice interfaces every month. 
    
2. The picture is yet blurry on image recognition: Asian markets aren't yet table toppers, but Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia are above average users of this innovation.
    
3. Personal (data) problems: Despite a rapidly growing user base in the region, Asians seem less worried about their personal data than their European peers. India, where 70% of internet users aged 16-64 are concerned about their private data, comes in at the highest position for the region, in tenth place.
    
4. Adept blockers: Marketers looking to catch the attention of consumers in Indonesia, The Philippines and Malaysia, may face the most obstacles, with users in these three markets the most adept at using ad blockers.
    
5. No news, thanks: Asian social media users are far less likely than their African and European peers (gulp!) to access news via social media.
    
6. The trust deficit: All the Asian markets surveyed came in below the average in terms of trust in news media. In addition, the region's respondents don't trust social media as a source of news either.
    
7. Information on misinformation: Asian consumers have concerns about misinformation on the internet, but trail their global peers on this worry.
    
8. Devil in the detail: While Asia is often viewed as one fast-growing social-media market, the nuances tell a different story. For example, active social-media users account for a little over a quarter of south Asia's overall population; the same metric is nearly two-thirds in eastern and southeastern Asia. 
    
9. Entry barrier for brands: Despite the potential to discover brands on social media, Asian consumers are wary of taking this route, with Vietnam, The Philippines and Indonesia well below Africa's Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana, where consumers are most adept at discovering brands on social media.