In this new article, we are talking about a favorite topic of ours, social media, and how social media keeps changing.
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How Social Media Is Changing
Social media has become the be-all and end-all for many businesses and individuals when it comes to sharing information and building brands at scale.
The proliferation of social media content that currently gets generated every second is mind-boggling.
You may be part of those content providers but may not have considered the extent of your contribution to social media content.
Millions of YouTube videos watched, hundreds of thousands of Facebook posts, and almost half a million tweets sent every second is significant social engagement.
There are, however, changes afoot that have become more apparent in recent times.
As data gains prominence and we move deeper into an age where data surpasses gold and oil as the most sought-after resource, people become more mindful of the value of their own personal and business information shared and how it is shared.
Social media keeps changing, and if you use it in any shape, form, or manner, you need to read further and be informed as to some of these changes that will definitely affect you and your business.
The Genesis of Social Media – How Social Media is changing
As Bob Marley noted, “You’ve got to know where you’re coming from to be able to know where you’re going to,” and the same would ring true for your social media.
Many of us may believe that Facebook was the first social media, but social media as a construct and process had already been around for a while.
Electronic communication is regarded as social media, and the first social media can arguably be pinpointed as the first dots and dashes sent via a telegraph machine in the mid-1800s.
Then there was Morse code, which at the time was thought to be the pinnacle of communication.
However, it was soon surpassed, and the perfection of the transistor then allowed for the incredibly fast development of the internet.
Semiconductors became smaller, and seriously powerful microprocessor chips enabled the speediest transfer of data that we had ever experienced.
The development of powerful microchips and then microprocessors allowed for emails and a lot more detail to be included in all electronic communication.
RSS feeds began with a summary of content from websites and users given a sense of belonging and community from the daily download and interaction.
These feeds became more specific and personalized as time went on, and the idea of a personal profile began to develop.
The rest, as they say, is history, and from Friendster in 2001 to Facebook in 2004, social media exploded.
Electronic communication then went from text-dominated messages and stories on Facebook to a point where TikTok and Instagram now provide for a more interactive, picture-based sharing mode.
And the numbers are now astronomical.
Social media has moved from a position where the main aim was to share electronic information, share and communicate, shop and retail, and a critical element of the marketing and brand building process.
The boom and growth of social media
Individuals and businesses alike now rely on social media to create and develop their brands.
Never has it been more prevalent than in this age for normal individuals to be in a position to have or consider having a brand.
This, coupled with the increased business uses, has seen the social media sector boom in recent years.
To make it real, the following statistics show just how far and how big social media has become: –
- 96 billion people use social media, which would double the entire population of China plus a few small nearby island nations…
- The average person has 8.6 social media accounts, and these could vary from Facebook to Instagram and smaller product-specific/brand-specific chat rooms.
- 99% of social media users access their social media from a mobile device; it is constant and ongoing.
- 6% of the worlds entire population use social media
- Over 72% of American adults use some form of social media; this number was 55 in 2005, the year after Facebook started.
These are staggering figures and just go to prove that social media is here to stay and growing all the time.
It is also a given, based on these numbers, that social media must be the next best marketplace.
While some think that trends in social media will be more considerate of the amount of information being shared, the sheer number of users will ensure that content flow will continue to grow.
If the number of users is anything to go by, then it would follow that products and services.
The recent pandemic has also added to this need for social interaction online, and the big players such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest have seen remarkable ongoing growth.
Interestingly, some of these applications were expected to begin a downturn prior to the onset of the global pandemic.
However, with the need for non-contact social interaction, the stakes were raised, and all social media platforms saw a resurgence in user numbers.
Join the conversation - In this new article, we are talking about a favorite topic of ours, social media, and how social media keeps changing.Click To TweetThe Changes and Youth Involvement
Social media has always been a young person’s game, and the most interesting aspect of the sector has been to see the early initiators’ age.
Some of the old school apps have simply faded away and become irrelevant; for example, Myspace just could not keep up.
Many have even thought that Facebook would not stand the test of time as millennials aged and younger people wanted something new.
However, in reality, the platform was too big to crumble, and the fact that those on it have simply moved their user patterns and shifted objectives, it is still one of the biggest social media platforms in the world and responsible for a huge part of the revenue that is generated online.
But it has professionalized, and one of the mainstays of the platform is now Facebook Business Manager.
As with many other social media platforms, all the biggest platforms are adapting their platforms to better suit business functions and enhance the use of social media so businesses can optimize profits.
Taking advantage of youth within business teams means allowing them to lead the use of social media to promote products, build brands and enhance customer engagement.
This trend is likely to repeat itself across the range of social media platforms as needs change and younger generations come through.
So not only are businesses using social media to enhance their brands but to adapt to new and younger customers who have been using social media for most of their lives.
The Future of Social Media
The predominant train of thought is that social media will continue to grow, but will social media keep changing?
The thinking is that people will share less, and that business will benefit more.
However, the journey for social media has not all been smooth sailing, and there have been some major drawbacks of the drive to share everything with everyone.
Data has been compromised by some of the big players, and the concept and practical application of cybersecurity have become more important than ever.
This has resulted in the move towards targeted sharing and increased privacy requirements from the various platforms out there.
Smaller communities and tribes are being formed around specific topics or societal issues, and the big players have noticed this and now allow for a much more private and individualized setup of your social media.
Social media is also being increasingly used to support people and improve well-being at physical and mental levels.
The recent decrease in actual social contact has meant that e-connections became more important than ever before, and this trend is likely to continue into the long term.
As a result, we have seen a surge in virtual exercise classes and support groups, virtual book clubs, and social media for online learning, all of which are growing and likely to continue.
Another important change occurring on social media platforms is shopping directly on the platforms rather than having to visit the e-commerce shop or product website.
Although not providing the entire range of products, social media sites will now provide access to trending or top products directly through social media.
In addition, augmented reality will further revolutionize the shopping process, and the aim is to allow users to simply click on the object that they are interested in or on another user profile and move directly into purchasing the product.
Marketing on Social M+edia
Businesses and products initially gravitated towards having formal websites with primarily product information, and subsequently, these were linked to e-commerce concerns, and shopping became the main function of the online profile.
However, more recently, social media profiles for businesses have become all the rage, and businesses have found a myriad of alternative ways to market and promote their products and services in the social media space.
Social media for businesses has become a common feature of all the platforms out there, whether it be for advertising, the use of influencers and promoters, or the straightforward ability to buy or shop and for customers and clients to interact and link with their favorite products and services.
Businesses and products now have their very own social media sites where they can publish product content and listen and engage with product users and brand followers while running media advertisements.
There is now also the ability to analyze and report on the nature of contact and create customer-specific data that can target advertisement and future contact.
Facebook for business now has over 2.7 billion active users, and it has sparked the need for all small businesses to be on social media in their own right. Telling their own brand back story and developing a tribe of followers.
It is a free resource that small businesses have been quick to seize and is becoming one of the primaries means to connect with clients and customers online.
The rise of the influencer as Social Media keeps changing
From very early on in the development of social media, the in the know, up to date businesses saw the benefits of asking influential social media writers, bloggers, or forum hosts to promote their products.
However, in the last 10 years since the emergence of Instagram, this aspect of social media has become a huge business.
The range of influencers can and does vary and will range from gamers and beauty vloggers to toy influencers and can also be of any age.
The main requirement is for them to have access to followers who will largely take guidance and, as the term implies, follow the influencer’s lead with regard to products and even lifestyle.
For example, the week that Nicki Minaj wore a pair of pink crocs, the demand for the shoe spiked 4900% In a matter of hours.
It can also work the other way, and when Christiano Ronaldo turned down Coca-Cola in favor of water in an interview after one of the Eurogames, the share price of Coca-Cola dropped a few percentage points. It is an industry that is specific to social media and is worth around $8 Billion a year and growing.
New celebrities are being made simply based on their followers on social media.
How Social Media Keeps Changing – Takeaways
Social media is one of the most defining characteristics of the current age.
How people and businesses have shared and interacted online and on the various social media platforms that exist has come to define these businesses. Individuals alike have also begun to create individualized branding that has been monetized and is now seen as a source of revenue for some of the biggest brands in the world.
It is a platform that you should embrace for your marketing and promotional purposes, as it can help to bring new customers to your business as well as any other method you might have tried.
However, like everything else in constant flux, social media keeps changing and is on an ongoing journey of change.
There may be some platforms that cannot meet the new needs, but there will be those that adapt and are proper.
It is a fast-paced environment and one that you should keep abreast of all related developments, as these may affect us all.
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