Thematic Intelligence - Social Media in Medical Devices - 2023
Summary
Social media’s ad-funded business model is under threat
Social media companies will increasingly diversify away from their ad-funded business model in the face of increased regulatory scrutiny. In 2023 alone, Alphabet, Amazon, ByteDance, and Meta were fined a combined $7.7 billion for breaching data privacy laws over their ad-targeting practices. Regulators have also accused them of monopolistic behavior around access to personal data. In 2023, Alphabet, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft were classified as “gatekeepers” under the EU’s latest antitrust legislation.
Smaller, more disparate networks may increase in popularity
Several smaller social networks, such as BlueSky, Damus, and Mastodon, have entered the market following regulatory scrutiny of large social media companies’ business practices and users’ desire for more intimate engagement. The scrutiny has seen the UK launch an investigation into Google’s dominance in adtech, and the EU Commission launched an investigation into Apple and Microsoft. The regulatory crackdown on monopolistic behavior means the super-app model pioneered by Tencent in China is unlikely to be as successful in the West. Consumer demand will also impact attempts to build pools of connected apps, such as Elon Musk’s bid to transform X (formerly Twitter) into a super-app to diversify revenue streams away from personalized ads. Consumers’ increased concern about the use of personal data and content moderation will instead see smaller decentralized apps (dApps) become more popular.
Social media’s impact in medical devices
Social media can be a powerful tool in medical for a number of reasons, such as allowing patients to get together and discuss treatment options and their experiences within the healthcare system. Social media can help promote medical device awareness and understanding through sharing success stories, testimonials, and educational content.
Scope
This report is a thematic brief, which identifies those companies most likely to succeed in a world filled with disruptive threats. Inside, we predict how each theme will evolve and identify the leading and disrupting companies.
The report covers the social media theme.
Reasons to Buy
GlobalData’s thematic research ecosystem is a single, integrated global research platform that provides an easy-to-use framework for tracking all themes across all companies in all sectors. It has a proven track record of identifying the important themes early, enabling companies to make the right investments ahead of the competition, and secure that all-important competitive advantage.
Develop and design your corporate strategies through an in-house expert analysis of social media by understanding the primary ways in which this theme is impacting the healthcare industry.
Stay up to date on the industry’s major players and where they sit in the value chain.
Identify emerging industry trends to gain a competitive advantage.
Executive Summary
Players
Table Who are the leading players in the social media theme, and where do they sit in the value chain?
Thematic Briefing
The blurred boundaries of social media
Table Social media use has proliferated since 2010
Online advertising generates the bulk of the social media industry's revenues
Table The social media business model relies on harvesting customer data to target ads
Social media must differentiate to compete
Network effects can be a barrier to entry
Decentralized apps are rising while super-apps are falling
Trends
Technology trends
Table Technology trends
Macroeconomic trends
Table Macroeconomic trends
Regulatory trends
Table Regulatory trends
Industry Analysis
Social media use in medical devices
Timeline
Table The social media story
Signals
Venture financing trends
Table Venture financing activity picked up in 2022
Table Key venture financing deals associated with the social media theme since June 2020
Patent trends
Table A declining number of patents have been filed since 2021
Company filing trends
Table A declining number of mentions of social media since 2021
Hiring trends
Table Active jobs peaked in March 2023
Value Chain
Table The social media value chain
Content layer
Table The social media value chain - Content layer
Distribution layer
Table The social media value chain - Distribution layer: Social networks
Table The social media value chain - Distribution layer: Discussion forums
Table The social media value chain - Distribution layer: Media sharing sites
Table The social media value chain - Distribution layer: Consumer review networks
Table The social media value chain - Distribution layer: Sharing economy companies
Table The social media value chain - Distribution layer: Messaging services
Data layer
Table The social media value chain - Data layer: Data integration
Table The social media value chain - Data layer: Data aggregation
Table The social media value chain - Data layer: Data processing
Table The social media value chain - Data layer: Data storage
Table The social media value chain - Data layer: Data validation
Table The social media value chain - Data layer: Data governance and security
Services layer
Table The social media value chain - Services layer: Internet advertising
Table The social media value chain - Services layer: Online payments
Table The social media value chain - Services layer: Ecommerce
Customer layer
Companies
Public companies
Table Public companies
Private companies
Table Private companies
Glossary
Table Glossary
Further Reading
GlobalData reports
Table GlobalData reports
Our Thematic Research Methodology
Table Our five-step approach for generating a sector scorecard