In an effort to keep users intrigued and engaged with their favorite social networking apps, creators are pulling out all of the stops in 2019. Some big changes are coming to your favorite social media sites in the coming months. Here’s what to keep an eye out for:
- Some 80% of what we consume online will be all video content, according to the Social Media Examiner. Digital ads just aren’t cutting it anymore. Video grabs the attention of a user and is more apt to keep them engaged. This isn’t just true of advertisements though. We will see an even bigger climb in the use of Facebook Live, Instagram Live, Stories features using video content, more video sharing on YouTube, and so on. Videos allow us to more accurately convey feelings, illustrate details, and make our followers feel more like a part of our daily happenings.
- Micro Influencers will start to trump the Macro Influencers. These are you more “down-to-earth” social media accounts with a moderate amount of followers – not typically more than 10,000. Their reach is still wide, but tends to foster a better sense of community that’s closer knit and more personable. These accounts are more likely to respond to comments and messages. These are the users who have to work for their endorsements and advertisements; they have to reach out to brands themselves, instead of being approached by a brand like a macro influencer would. Big brands aren’t having to shell out tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on posts for the exposure of a Kardashian, but instead can spend small amounts – or even an exchange of goods/services, with tons of micro-influencers and see more bang for their buck.
- Blockchain becomes a heavily-integrated player, especially on Facebook and Twitter. In this new world of “fake news,” social media giants are doing everything in their power to eliminate the ever-too-constant appearances of fake article polluting users’ social media feeds. Companies have started to invest a great deal of money in to these programs and are even hiring entire departments in order to tackle the issue head-on. The big-guys have found Blockchain to be one of the most effective ways to eliminate the spam-style news and keep content as true and honest as possible; making the user experience even more safe.
- Authentication of posts and accounts will be more prevalent. With recent court issues, namely targeting Facebook, lawmakers are requiring social media platforms to be even more vigilant when it comes to removing accounts, posts, and other content that offers misinformation, especially when it relates to elections, the announcements of upcoming Democratic candidates, and the Democratic Primaries approaching in 2020. With younger generations fully relying on content found on social media when forming their opinions on who to vote for, or which side of the coin to favor on hot topics, it is extremely important that social media moguls make this a major focus of their vetting processes.
- New apps will make a brief appearance, but they’re late to the game and will likely be short-lived. On the watch apps include: Foursquare Swarm, Caffeine, Facecast, Vero, and Lasso. Some have been in beta mode for several years, while others launched late in 2018 but will finally make it to the forefront in coming months, and one is even modeled after a similar app that has gained popularity amongst youth in Asia. With the social media powerhouses like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube being well-established in the game, there is very little room for a new app to enter in to the arena and make a notable splash. Only time will tell.
While the 4 big real estate agents in the social media industry will retain their stakes, will another newcomer on the scene threaten their user activity? Will the impending changes and efforts to be more authentic and weed out the “fake news” be enough to increase user satisfaction? We’re interested to see what happens over the next 12 months!
Have any other social media predictions for 2019? Comment below and let us know!