Marketers are complicit in the toxicity of social media, they misunderstand its function and how brands should participate in it, and yet they appear to be held hostage by it. Those are some of the main paradoxes confronting brand marketers, according to a damning new report from the social media analyst at Forrester Research.

Verizon Business today released findings from a recent survey, Small Business Response to COVID-19 to better understand the impact small business owners and decision makers feel COVID-19 has had on their businesses. The survey, conducted by Morning Consult, focused on 500 small and medium businesses that are currently open or plan to reopen. One of the survey’s key results is that small businesses have renewed confidence, with 68% believing they can recoup COVID-19 related losses.

Key Survey Findings:

As businesses grapple with the economic impact of COVID-19, these responses highlight the assistance small businesses feel they need, the communities they feel most supported by, and the changes they have made to adjust to the new normal.

1. A Renewed Confidence
The small businesses that have weathered this pandemic to date express an overall optimism and the financial wherewithal to eventually reopen.

68% of small businesses believe they can recoup COVID-19 related losses
46% (nearly half) of small businesses that remain open say their businesses will be able to stay open for more than six months if the pandemic continues in the same way
48% of small businesses say it’s unlikely they will need to resume operations with a smaller staff
While 78% of small businesses indicate declining sales, less than a quarter (24%) say that they have missed or withheld any payments of bills (rent, utilities, etc.).

Rather than using aggregated statistics and sentiment analysis, the research team used a qualitative approach to drill down into all the tweets posted around the two case studies, and divided them into key topics, positions, purpose and arguments, in order to determine how users engaged in the debate around sustainability and ethics in fashion.

They found that the two main ethics and sustainability issues raised by social media users were environmental concerns, in the first case study; and labor conditions in the supply chain, in the second. Analysis revealed that only a small proportion of tweets were explicitly critical and that those that were, were actually prompting a relatively sophisticated debate that fashion brands may benefit from engaging meaningfully with.

Many physicians have reported being sexually harassed and personally attacked on social media platforms on the basis of their religion, race or medical recommendations, a new joint study from Northwestern University and the University of Chicago revealed.

While the data were collected before the COVID-19 pandemic, the findings highlight the intensity of online harassment, which the authors stated has intensified since the crisis.

According to a news release, the study found one in four physicians reported being personally attacked on social media, including being barraged by negative reviews, receiving coordinated harassment and threats at work and having personal information shared publicly.

As the world faced lockdowns, people restricted themselves to the four walls of their homes, increasing the amount of time they were spending on social media platforms and behind their screens, but this was not necessarily a bad thing. Social media kept the world connected when the harsh reality of the new normal kept everyone physically apart. This magnanimous increase in screen-time presented brands and organizations an opportunity to connect with their audiences like never before. As we look towards 2021, we must understand that 2020 has changed how we will do business forever. Clearly, there are no effective marketing strategies without social media going forward.

In researching the landscape ahead for social media, I spoke with entrepreneur and social media expert Brandon Mimms. Brandon has built over 10 million followers combined across various pages on Instagram, including @USA, @SantaClaus, @Shoes, @NiagaraFalls, and others.

The onset of the coronavirus pandemic ramped up social media usage across all major platforms across the globe—and there's no sign of a decline anytime soon.

social network users worldwide
The coronavirus pandemic ramped up social media usage across all major platforms. eMarketer
But just how many people actually use social media? Insider Intelligence analyzed social network usage trends across multiple platforms and localizations. Here are some of the key social media stats to help navigate this shifting landscape.

How many people use social media?
Over three billion people, or 80.7% of internet users worldwide, will use a social network at least once per month in 2020. This is nearly 150 million more global social network users than Insider Intelligence's pre-pandemic estimate.

1. Say goodbye to one-man-shows.
2. Be mindful of response times.
3. Hire social-centric experts.
4. Have backup resources.
5. Educate leadership on social media basics.
6. Provide social teams with ample resources.
7. Establish clear escalation and brand guidelines.
8. Encourage days off.

Is your social media marketing approach in line with the latest usage and behavioral trends?

The use of digital platforms changed significantly over the course of 2020, with the lockdowns and COVID mitigation efforts forcing people to find alternate ways to socialize, to shop, and to work, all of which have flow-on effects. That's sparked new trends, like audio social, and new approaches in how businesses connect with their target markets.

If you're not aware of these shifts, you may limiting your marketing performance. To provide some more perspective, the team from tech.co recently put together a listing of six key digital usage trends that could influencer your strategic approach.

You can check out their six key trends in the below graphic, which might help in your planning.

The fantasy football experts of Yahoo Fantasy reveal their Week 11 tight end rankings.

The Yahoo Fantasy team reveals their Week 11 PPR tight end rankings.

The technological innovation process is acknowledged as a sequence of procedures that engineers follow to find the best solution to a problem. That allows designers to use math concepts, applied research and technological innovation sciences to obtain a high level of optimization that meets the requirements of an goal. The steps incorporate defining the situation, […]

The BSE benchmark Sensex tumbled 820.97 points or 1.03 per cent to settle at 78,675.18. During the day, it plunged 948.31 points or 1.19 per cent to 78,547.84.

Skill development programmes, certification courses on music will be taken up along with the design and analysis of musical instruments

The funeral was held with full state honours at Ramoji Film City here, in the presence of his family, friends, and well-wishers

Despite the risks, Prajeesh embarked on a third mission but unfortunately disappeared, leaving his damaged jeep behind in Chooralmala.

Smith’s remarkable career spanned several decades, during which she was celebrated as one of her generation’s most distinguished actresses, sharing the stage and screen with contemporaries like Vanessa Redgrave and Judi Dench.

YouTube Shopping affiliate programme allows creators to earn by recommending products, across videos, shorts and live streams

Here are four visualisations on the changing landscape of consumer credit.

Here are four charts illustrating the evolving profile of women investors in mutual funds

Younger women respondents exhibit greater interest in alternative investments while the elder respondents favour listed equities

Electoral funding needs to be made more transparent

Flows to small-cap funds turned negative for the first time in 2.5 years

The industry is poised to benefit from several favourable factors

The middle class continues to be the primary consumer of gold in India

Consumption expenditure patterns point to increased inequality and constraints for future growth

The allocation of Indian household savings to non-bank instruments remains lower compared to developed markets

The study compiled from a pool of one crore retail investors (30 per cent women)

Fans often have an emotional connect with sporting stars

The devastating landslide in Kerala’s Munnar region signals the dire need for ramping up disaster alert systems while enhancing climate change mitigation efforts, Jinoy Jose P reports

The air quality was also ‘very poor’ in Delhi’s neighbouring areas such as Greater Noida, Ghaziabad and Noida, and ‘poor’ in Faridabad and Gurugram

The Chhattisgarh State Scheduled Tribe Commission found that the clearance was obtained using forged documents

IIT Madras’ Centre for Computational Brain Research is receiving support from Nvidia

ISRO conducted successful RLV-LEX-02 experiment demonstrating autonomous landing capabilities from high altitudes, marking progress in space technology

AI models can provide information that could help create biological weapons: American intelligence

Despite the successful landing, two test pilots, Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, will remain in space until next year due to NASA’s safety concerns.

It needs to be seen if fortunes for the consumer segments will reverse

The study showed that decreased care and increased control from the mother, high autonomy from father and increased rejection from both parents as risk factors associated with adolescent internet excessive use

The exhibition, organised by the Kolkata Centre for Creativity along with the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi and Gallery Rasa, pays tribute to artist Benode Behari Mukherjee, one of the pioneers of Indian modern art

Leading design houses from across the country showcase their collections at an ongoing trunk show

The travel resulted in a docu-series titled Folkroad, which was screened recently at the Red Lorry Festival in Mumbai.

According to sources, a report prepared by the Puducherry government in 2017 had revealed that around 200 acres of temple land were under encroachment in the UT

Fraudulent documents were allegedly used to obtain the licence for the bunk from public sector oil marketing company on Thiruloganathar Swamy temple land

After the Kamatchiamman Temple land grabbing case in Puducherry region, the incident of Sri Parvatheeswarar Swamy Devasthanam land forgery case has emerged in Karaikal region, says MP and PCC chief V. Vaithilingam.