The social media business is becoming the most well-liked and influencing marketing tool, where celebrity brand endorsers get from $100 to $10,000 for a single post, depending on the engagement, target, loyalty, and size of the advertisement.

In a year, Unilever claimed it paid more than tens of millions of Euros for online marketing. Some top paid celebrities on Instagram include Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, and Cristiano Ronaldo. Such endorsements are tagged as "paid", and some countries have imposed new regulations to prevent misuse of such marketing platforms. UK regulators are investigating posts on such platforms to track paid ads which are not mentioned as paid.  

Ubiquitous mobile devices are responsible for the growth of such media. A recent report shows the impact of fake news, misuse and interference of international agencies during elections – can influence governments and democracies as some of the messages target and influence voters' decisions. Many are hate messages without any validation.

• Since it is one of the most powerful marketing tools, working in an unregulated environment – where even people's details, private information, and other content can be easily circulated and accessed- is dangerous.

• Such an influencer market involves people who are paid for commenting or rewarded for posting.  

• One of the researches on social media by the CMA (UK government) found that 78 per cent of the influencers were using Instagram to promote a brand, such as to restructure brand image, using many tools, stories, and other online strategies highly trustworthy.

• E.g. Marketing companies' Buzzoole strategies are based on Instagram posts, with hashtags that grew by 44 per cent compared to last year in the first half of 2018.

• There is a need for enhanced transparency and reliability of the information, and people should be responsible for their posts and content shared on websites. In addition, the new regulations related to social media require advertisers to state - it is a paid promotion.

Building a customer base in conditions when the channels are continuously increasing is tough for social media firms. For example, Snapchat and Twitter are famous for younger users, and Facebook and Pinterest are popular among older users. 

The new study on social media finds Britons between the age of 18 to 24 are increasingly using Snapchat, and the business of Facebook grew only 2 per cent in the year to reach 32.7 million  UK users – where the growth is mostly due to older users.

About 37 per cent of the users of UK Facebook are over 45 years, and many have opened accounts to keep in touch with children and grandchildren.

Most youngsters and millennials are using Snapchat and Instagram simultaneously, as the UK government plans to introduce a complete ban for kids. As a result, Snapchat is expected to have more than 5 million online users in the UK in 2019.

There is extreme fluctuation in the market and stock rates of these channels. For example, the Facebook stock rate declined in 2018, causing volatility in Mark Zuckerberg's fortune and rank in the world's richest list. In addition, various established platforms such as Netflix and Twitter have declined in stock values in the current year.

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