More than likes: Engagement speaks louder than social media followers

Actions, not followers, are new social currency for Indians online, reveals Comscore Social's mid-year review

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, singer/actor Diljit Dosanjh, cricketer Mohammed Shami, and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi were among the 10 biggest influencers in India in the first half of 2024. Comscore Social, the eponymous firm’s social media measurement tool, ranks influencers and brands based on actions taken. For example, there were over 100 million likes, shares, comments, or reposts of anything cricketer Virat Kohli put out on Facebook, X, and Instagram between January and June 2024.

Comscore’s mid-year study The Power of Cross-Platform Measurement, shared with Business Standard, contains some interesting insights on what is happening on social media.

Over 90 per cent of the 524 million Indians online in June 2024 used social media. That proportion has remained constant since 2020. They spent a total of 36 billion hours online in June 2024, which is up by 56 per cent from 2020. Of the total 218 billion hours spent online in the first six months of 2024, over a fourth (28 per cent) was spent on social media.

Entertainment came second at 18 per cent, and news/information garnered just under 3 per cent. Interestingly, at an overall engagement level across genres, entertainment tops with 39 per cent of all actions taken, while influencers come second at 32 per cent.

The time spent on social media has been growing consistently since 2020, with YouTube seeing the most growth. The average user spends 13 hours a month on YouTube, with Instagram a close second at 10 hours. That explains why Google (which owns YouTube) and Meta (which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) take 70-80 per cent of all digital advertising in a year. Across Generation Z (15-24-year-olds), Millennials (25-34-year-olds), and Generation X (35-plus), YouTube and Instagram lead in both time spent and reach. X remains the smallest in both reach and time spent.

Why focus on actions taken and not reach, the way most influencer lists are compiled?

“You could look at fans/followers (reach), but the true scalability of each social platform is displayed through its active audience,” says Atul Nandoskar, sales director of Comscore India.

For instance, Bhuvan Bam, a popular YouTuber, has 19.3 million followers on Instagram, but they engaged (liked, commented, and reposted) with his content only 3.2 million times in June 2024. In the same period, comedian The Rebel Kid (Apoorva Makhija) had just 1.5 million followers on Instagram, but her followers engaged with her videos 5.2 million times. She has worked with over 60 brands, including OnePlus and Google. The idea, says the report, is to make comparisons based on actual engagement on a social media platform, instead of reach.