2. Sh*tposting – is when an account purposefully posts something that they know will annoy their audience to generate more engagement. E.g. the Conservatives used the notoriously hated, unprofessional font ‘Comic Sans’ to spell ‘Get Brexit Done’ on social media. #2020trends

Number 3 in our 2020 trends is 'screenshotting' - sharing #screenshots on other platforms and increasing the reach of a post. It makes it harder to measure the eventual reach and shows where visual image tracking and #sociallistening technology need to merge faster. #2020trends

Meme banks is number 4 on our list of trends. #GIFs & #memes are becoming more common & our analysts estimate that they make up to 70% of the comments on some threads. Automated #sentimentanalysis would not have read this accurately, but nothing gets past our meme loving team!

Our 5th trend is saying goodbye to fast fashion – as consumers are pay more attention to the amount of waste they produce, the #secondhandfashionindustry is growing. @ASOS Marketplace sales were up 690% in 2019 year & Depop reached 13 million users.

Positivity is our 6th trend – since the end of 2019 more people have been searching for positive news stories and sources, such as Tank’s Good News and @the_happy_broadcast on Instagram, who are becoming increasingly popular in terms of engagements and following.

Our 7th trend of 2020 is #TikTok - this #GenZ focused platform has seen a shift in content, with viral videos now used to educate and raise awareness of #politicalcauses such as #EduTok, makeup tutorials and spreading awareness of China’s treatment of Muslims. #trends

#Okboomer is number 8 on our list of 2020 trends – catching the attention of ‘older people’ and corporations, this first appeared in ‘09 but entered the mainstream in ‘19 thanks to TikTok. Fox News filed a trademark for the phrase in November and killed it off for good.

Our 9th trend for 2020 is ‘lad content’ – 2019 saw #ladcontent go viral. Funny, edgy and topical content is forwarded from group to group and eventually finds itself on Twitter. It’s not known where they originate but #Reddit is a common source.

Half way through our 2020 trends! Number 10 is #RIPHashtags. Popular hashtags used on days of the week such as #ThrowbackThursday and #MondayMotivation have seen a steady decline in 2019. This dip in popularity may leave users looking for new ways to engage audiences.

Number 11 in our 2020 trends is 'National Days No More' - national days, particularly the silly, made up ones, are almost non-existent. But, ones with more sincerity such as #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek now generate high levels of conversation across social. #nationaldays

Number 12 on our list is 'flattery gets you everywhere'. #Socialmedia users (particularly #influencer to influencer) shower each other with compliments & engagements online. So, it is important for brands to separate out the ‘influencer bubble’ from potential customers.

Number 13 in our 2020 trends is 'longer or shorter captions?' Surprisingly, for a visual platform, posts with longer captions attract better engagements on #Instagram. Longer posts are on the rise thanks to influencers using them to offer insight into their lives.

LGBTQ+ and #dragculture interest in the UK has grown in popularity, and that's why it's number 14 on our list! Shows such as RuPaul's Drag Race and Queer Eye have influenced language, content, emojis and even meme creation on social media 🙌🏼

Trend 15 of 20 from our report is #VSCO - a photography mobile app but more broadly, a youth aesthetic. This trend may be most prominent in the US, but it’s making its way to Europe. Around 18% of all Instagram photos use this filter, with 202 million mentions of #vscocam

Trend number 16 in our 2020 report is the focus on #MentalHealth – since 2017 Instagram have taken steps to combat the negative impact of social media on mental health by removing ‘likes’ and launching #RealCovo to encourage the growth of positive communities online and offline.

#Livestreaming is number 17 on our list of 2020 trends. Twitch’s Just Chatting category has grown in popularity, with over 600,000 streamers joining and 651 million hours watched, this now challenges #Fortnite and #LeagueofLegends for their top spots on the website!

Number 18 is "Grander grandstanding" - #Brands have become bolder with their stances on issues such as #socialjustice. This can be a risky tactic which divides audiences but can also have great benefits – take Nike’s Ballin Kaepernick ad which saw sales jump 25%!

Number 19 of our 2020 trends is "Fear of AI" and acceptance of digital. #AI was one of the biggest trends in 2019 and is set to continue - according to gsm the AI market is to reach $70 billion in 2020!

The last on our 2020 list is ‘Celebs fill the leadership void’. Concerns about #climatechange have resulted in a surge of online conversations. As some leaders have stayed quiet, many have turned to celebs who are weighing in on issues such as the #Australianbushfires.