Social media is where people share their big life events and updates, in order to keep friends and family informed, and celebrate major milestones, changes, etc.

But what life events are people most likely to share in each app?

The team from Confused.com recently undertook a broader study of life trends, which also looked at the most popular life event postings on Instagram and TikTok, based on hashtag use, which could provide some valuable context for your content planning, and how to connect with the right audiences in each app.

First off, on Instagram – here are the top ten most shared life events within Instagram posts:

Those are all fairly logical, with the majority being celebratory events – though the variance in post volume for each is worth noting.

Based on this, a brand might want to consider marketing to new home buyers in the app, or post about new hires, or make it a bigger focus for campaigns based around these key life events.

On TikTok, the top 10 listing is similar, with some slight variances.

‘Separation’ is much higher on TikTok (coming it at 11th on the list on IG), while ‘Marriage’ is not as high (23rd on TT). Not sure what that means – I would initially conclude that TikTok’s younger audience would result in less discussion of marriage, but separation is a key focus (as is divorce) so…

Maybe separated people are more likely to jump onto TikTok to find a new partner.

‘Gender reveal’ is also a bigger focus on TikTok (13th on IG), while ‘Death’ and ‘Funeral’ both make the top 10.

Some of these trends would relate to the variance in audience demographics, but it is interesting to note the differences, and how significant each topic is across the two apps.

Of course, for the most part, this research doesn’t reveal much that you didn’t already know – both apps are used for celebratory posts and major announcements, which includes all of the big life milestones and shifts.

But it is interesting to compare the popularity of each, and to consider how that could relate to your marketing and outreach, in line with usage.

You can read Confused.com’s full report here.