Okay, the title has quite a lot of hyperbole, but the question remains. What will be the next “big thing” on Social Media for IMs?
Facebook organic reach is practically dead at this point, and will take a bigger dip in the coming months with the introduction of the Explore feed. All business page content will move to a separate feed, and you will have to create super engaging content or pay Facebook to reach your audience. Expect a MASSIVE increase in fake profiles, bots, spam messages & friend requests as soon as the update hits Tier 3 countries. This will probably make Facebook tighten its privacy settings, making it (practically) impossible for random accounts to reach out to real people.
Instagram engagement has been dropping for a while now, and if Facebook decides to monetize it with the same route that they’ve been taking Facebook (and there’s a good chance they will), Insta doesn’t have too much time either.
Twitter, Tumblr & Pinterest are still very good for their respective niches, but none have the mass pull of an Instagram or Facebook. Linkedin - Works very well for business, but quite a hard platform to master. Whatsapp - Quite a massive reach, excellent potential, but only for some markets. G+… who uses G+ again?
So what’s next? Vero? Ello? Hello? Nextdoor (SO much potential for this!)? Wanelo? Tried or planning to try any of these? Any new ones we should know of?
I tried Vero, but didn’t find it very appealing. I think Instagram will stay because it really is emulating human psychology to a certain degree. I follow u so u follow me back and the more followers you have the less you have to do with the individual follower. Its like a more superficial form of real life.
As for the next big thing… Thats a good question. I think a new big player would need to offer something unique and creative. I thought about it for a while and my only idea (maybe not the best one though) would be a social network where u can use bots to a certain degree to do stuff for u. They just give u so much potential for interaction. For example if everyone could use bots to give people likes or connect with other individuals it would be so much easier to get to meet new people or get in contact with people you might be interested in business wise.
I was not aware that Facebook was dead and that Instagram is dying…
Daily users are still increasing on these platforms. Just because the old methods are starting to phase out does not mean the platform is dead. They’re still very effective for the people I work with and my business.
Interesting thought! Wonder how that’d work for your average user, though.
You’re absolutely right. And these methods will definitely continue to work for quite a while, I’m sure.
Of course! These are still the hottest platforms on the internet right now, and will be for a while. I handle a bunch of clients at my agency, and Fb & Insta along with Adwords/DoubleClick still get them the kind of leads and conversions they’re looking for and more! Pinterest gives some amazing results for one of my clients in the fashion niche.
The question is how much you can leverage a platform without having to pay the platform itself, i.e. organic (or pseudo-organic) growth. The whole game-play for these platforms is to evolve to a point where marketers have to pay up to get the results they need - and that is the threat here.
I just wanted to see if we can identify the next Instagram or Snapchat and get in on the game, before it gets a bandwagon!
Yesterday I had a friend from China over. As she showed me her Weibo i was quite impressed. Its like a combination of Facebook and Instagram. Still it looked very structured and easy accessible. WeChat is also really cool, you can send money with it, rate restaurants, order food - all in one App! I don’t know if a centralized App like this fits to a non asian society, though. I mean Europe/America always was more about the individual than asia, so it only makes sense we have different Apps for different things.
Brother, you should check out South Korean apps! They have about 1500 functions in one app - Maps, locations, order food, order groceries, buy movie tickets, watch VOD, buy stuff, social network, everything in one app. 85% internet coverage or something, with super high speed internet access even on underground trains. Badass.
Highly unlikely that the rest of the world is ready for that kind of app, though!
The next Snapchat or Instagram I believe will never happen in the near future. Google and Facebook have very big pockets and the vast majority are connected to Facebook and establish relationships with others there. With 3D virtual reality and 5th gen mobile technology ready to roll out this may change. The social media business is not growing as fast as the past and now is a Established business and growth will be slow. It’s not bad news nor good just the way it is. The players want more and we simply have to adjust and beat them at their own game. We been doing it since the start and will now and in the future. They are not dying. Far from it. They are alive and healthy. We have to adapt to the reality of a new territory and smile and not give up
However, as mentioned above there is definite potential for Weibo to expand into the western world. We don’t quite have anything like it that is so connected to everything we do.
Just somehow thought about this topic again… I think the next big thing could also be a platform that really puts Influencers first. If u don’t treat them like normal businesses but like the people who make the platform work, they will all leave the other platforms if they can make more money and therefore the users would follow.
Very interesting thought. Have you checked out Vero? Though it isn’t exactly what you said, the option to choose who exactly sees your posts puts the focus very much on your content - which is what an influencer driven platform should be like. There is little to no monetization on Vero at the moment, but eventually it could evolve to something more.
Flipboard is pretty brilliant for a niche, professional audience. If you have a brand that talks to professional, HNIs and similar kinds of people, and you have the resources to create magazine quality content, then Flipboard is brilliant. I use it for a Single Malt Whisky client of mine and there’s some great engagement for it.
