Blog: platforms

Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the entertainment world. Check out the latest insight from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage areas - music, entertainment and fandom, creator economy and social.

Meta launches paid subscriptions: is the era of free social media at an end?

Hanna Kahlert

2 Jun 2026

Business Strategy Facebook Instagram

After months of testing, Meta has announced three new paid subscriptions: Instagram Plus, Facebook Plus, and WhatsApp Plus. Features will vary according to platform. Instagram Plus focuses on public signalling, analytics, and engagement: creating new follower lists, seeing who has re-watched stories...

Cover image for Meta launches paid subscriptions: is the era of free social media at an end?

Instagram Instants hint at Meta’s changing aspirations

Hanna Kahlert

19 May 2026

Business Strategy Instagram Social media

As of May 13, Meta has announced the rollout of Instants: a new feature for Instagram that doubles as its own app. Instants are quick snapshots that can only be viewed by followers once and disappear after 24 hours.

Cover image for Instagram Instants hint at Meta’s changing aspirations

The three challenges YouTube must overcome to become TV

Ben Woods

13 May 2026

Business Strategy YouTube Streaming

YouTube’s case to be classed as TV in the eyes of advertisers is not bulletproof. TV advertising does not just buy reach and premium content. It buys into a regulated ecosystem built around measurement standards, brand safety, discoverability rules, and public-service obligations.

Cover image for The three challenges YouTube must overcome to become TV

Is AI the biggest threat to social platforms?

Hanna Kahlert

12 May 2026

Business Strategy Social media Social

Social media is becoming less social. You may have noticed this in your own life, as the endless scroll of short-form video becomes default. Users are more likely to turn to ‘social’ platforms for entertainment than to communicate with friends, according to MIDiA’s quarterly consumer survey .

Cover image for Is AI the biggest threat to social platforms?

Social media bans: boom or bust?

Hanna Kahlert

6 May 2026

Cultural trends Social media Australia

In November 2024, Australia passed regulation aimed at social media platforms. From December 2025, children under the age of 16 could no longer legally hold accounts, with platforms held liable for infringements.

Cover image for Social media bans: boom or bust?

From answers to influence: How AI is reshaping social platforms’ role in search

Ben Woods

5 May 2026

Clients only

Business Strategy Creators Content

AI is not only disrupting search engines but dismantling the way people search across the internet. MIDiA’s Q3 2025 consumer survey reveals that 52% of those who reported using generative AI leveraged these tools to find information.

Cover image for From answers to influence: How AI is reshaping social platforms’ role in search

Social media doesn’t feel social anymore – so where does online community go from here?

Laura Fisher

21 Apr 2026

Cultural trends Social media Podcasts

A curious divergence is emerging in the UK's media habits. Earlier this month, Ofcom published its latest report on adults' media use, and one finding stands out. Social media usage remains high, with 89% of UK adults using at least one platform daily.

Cover image for Social media doesn’t feel social anymore – so where does online community go from here?

The dos and don’ts of community: What digital entertainment can learn from the live sector

Hanna Kahlert

18 Mar 2026

Cultural trends Social media Content

Social media has fundamentally changed – and the consequences matter whether you’re a consumer, a content creator, a regulator, or a marketer. Here’s why: 1. Social platforms are now passive entertainment Content creation remains a niche activity, and simply posting for friends has become less...

Cover image for The dos and don’ts of community: What digital entertainment can learn from the live sector

Attention versus fandom: Why entertainment needs a new framework for understanding engagement

Ben Woods

11 Mar 2026

Fandom Creators Video

The attention economy has become the de facto framework for measuring loyalty in the entertainment industry. However, not all attention is equal. While an hour spent scrolling videos on TikTok may compete with an hour spent playing a £70 video game, the depth, value and quality of that engagement a...

Cover image for Attention versus fandom: Why entertainment needs a new framework for understanding engagement

AI is booming for social platforms – but so is regulation

Hanna Kahlert

12 Feb 2026

Social media Social Games

As 2025’s Q4 numbers hit the headlines, social platforms seem to be thriving. Google recently announced YouTube’s revenues, totalling $60 billion (per the BBC ) – surpassing Netflix’s $45 billion (a bigger difference than it seems, as YouTube doesn’t have to take bets commissioning multi-m...

Cover image for AI is booming for social platforms – but so is regulation

The music industry’s boiling frog moment

Mark Mulligan

12 Feb 2026

Business Strategy Streaming Social media

Throw a frog in a pot of boiling water and it will instantly jump out, terrified (and very hot). But put it in a pot of cool water and slowly increase the heat to boiling and it will stay there until it dies.

Cover image for The music industry’s boiling frog moment

The problem with content

Mark Mulligan

3 Feb 2026

Business Strategy Creators Entertainment

Everything these days is content – but the word is as problematic as the implication. ‘Content’ is defined by other . It is defined by filling something else, being part of something else. It is something that only exists within another context.

Cover image for The problem with content

TikTok’s PineDrama points to social media’s anti-social trajectory

Hanna Kahlert

20 Jan 2026

Business Strategy TikTok Video

The surge of short-form drama apps has a new entry in the US and Brazil: TikTok. The social video app, which has overturned the digital entertainment economy over the past five years, has now launched a standalone app called PineDrama.

Cover image for TikTok’s PineDrama points to social media’s anti-social trajectory

Is 2026 the year a western country finally bans a major social platform?

Hanna Kahlert

14 Jan 2026

Business Strategy Social media platforms

Real change on social media has been incremental, with regulation far behind the innovation speed of companies themselves. However, it seems the current is shifting. In December 2025, Australia made the move to ban social media for under-16s.

Cover image for Is 2026 the year a western country finally bans a major social platform?

The re-evolution of email chains: Why social thrives on simplicity

Hanna Kahlert

11 Dec 2025

Cultural trends Social platforms

The year is 2003. Your Yahoo inbox jingles at you with a new message, subject “FW:FW:FW: Send this to 10 people or bad luck for 7 years”. A random classmate has CC’d you along with everyone else they have in their address book.

Cover image for The re-evolution of email chains: Why social thrives on simplicity

The AI-social media dilemma: Can TikTok, Meta, and diVine curb low-quality content without hurting creators?

Ben Woods

3 Dec 2025

Business Strategy Facebook TikTok

Social platforms are grappling with a difficult balancing act. Generative AI can deliver a revolutionary engagement opportunity by turning even more consumers into creators. However, low-quality AI content also poses a threat to the user experience of social platforms.

Cover image for The AI-social media dilemma: Can TikTok, Meta, and diVine curb low-quality content without hurting creators?

Why ignoring creator wellbeing is a financial risk for the creator economy

Ben Woods

20 Nov 2025

Audience Insight Video Creators

Each day, millions of hours of video content are uploaded onto social video platforms. The stream of creative output is so vast that it can be easy to forget that behind each one of these videos there is often a creator putting in a significant amount of work.

Cover image for Why ignoring creator wellbeing is a financial risk for the creator economy

(di)Vine is back: Is there space for another short-form video app?

Hanna Kahlert

19 Nov 2025

Business Strategy Video Creators

Long before we had TikTok, Reels, or Shorts, we had Vine. An app arguably well before its time, the original short-form platform for 6-second video clips was a huge moment for millennial culture. Compilations of archived content still rack up millions of views on YouTube, indicating its longevity, p...

Cover image for (di)Vine is back: Is there space for another short-form video app?

Brands and social TV: The next big entertainment power move

Ben Woods

5 Nov 2025

Business Strategy Audience Insight Video

One question is often asked when traditional entertainment companies start exploring a social-first strategy: how do we make it pay? It’s a valid line of inquiry that does not come with a neat answer.

Cover image for Brands and social TV: The next big entertainment power move

Is the internet re-localising?

Hanna Kahlert

8 Oct 2025

Cultural trends Social media Social

It’s been a busy few weeks for the social media world. TikTok is on the verge of a US sale – which could also see the app returning to India. Meanwhile, Meta is now offering subscriptions in the UK and Europe.

Cover image for Is the internet re-localising?

© 2026 MIDiA Research Ltd. All Rights Reserved.