Social Media Trends for 2023
The year 2021 will be the definitive moment for social media. This period is where we transition from a world of fragmented and isolated digital experiences to one where voice, visual, and chat interfaces are seamlessly connected across all screens. This will change everything about the way we interact with brands, products, services, and more. For example, in 2021 you might ask Alexa for recommendations for a date on Friday night rather than searching for suitable options online. You might then give that recommendation to your friend who has a different AI assistant and can access it directly from their phone. Social media trends are constantly evolving as platforms adapt to user behavior and new technologies become available. In this article, we take a look at some of these social media trends coming in 2023.
Voice as the primary interface
One of the biggest changes we are likely to see in social media will be a transition away from visual interfaces to voice as the primary interface. Already some social media platforms like Amazon’s Alexa or Instagram are adopting voice as a key way to interact with the platform. This is likely to become much more pervasive in the coming years. As our devices become more intelligent and responsive, we are likely to interact with social media apps by voice rather than tapping, swiping, or clicking on them. This could also apply to more traditional social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter. It’s possible that, in the future, the only way to interact with these platforms will be through voice. This would make social media even more accessible for people with disabilities, who might currently have trouble interacting with such apps.
Augmented Reality will be ubiquitous
In the coming years, social media will be underpinned by augmented reality. This is likely to be used in two key ways. Firstly, AR will be used to create immersive social experiences. We’ve already seen this to some extent with apps like Instagram Stories, where users are able to add graphics, filters, and other elements to their photos and videos. However, in the years to come, we’ll see this kind of functionality become more immersive and interactive. This is likely to be particularly true of AR-enabled social media apps like Snapchat or Facebook. These platforms are likely to become more immersive and engaging as they adopt AR technology. In particular, social discovery apps like MeetMe are likely to become much more popular. This will provide users with a more immersive way to connect with each other and explore the social network around them.
More brands will integrate blockchain
As the world becomes more aware of the potential of blockchain, we’ll likely see more brands integrate this technology into their services. Currently, most of the hype around blockchain is focused on cryptocurrencies. However, in the coming years, we’ll likely see brands start to integrate blockchain into a wider range of services. Blockchain will allow brands to offer tamper-proof digital solutions. This means that social media users will be able to verify when posts or ads are genuine and have not been tampered with by the brand. This will be particularly useful for social media users as fake news and misinformation are a growing problem on these platforms. Blockchain-based solutions will help brands prove the veracity of their posts and ads. They will also allow them to prove that the content has not been altered in any way, even after it’s been posted. This stands to make social media much more trustworthy, and help brands build better reputations online.
Real-time content analytics
As social media evolves and becomes more immersive, brands and social media platforms will start to track more data. This data is likely to be used to provide users with a more personalized and tailored social media experience. However, it could also be used to help brands understand how users engage with their posts. This is likely to be particularly useful for social media managers. They will be able to monitor engagement with their posts in real-time and see where they performed best. This will help them optimize their social media strategy and improve their performance on these platforms. This same data is likely to be useful for social media users. They will be able to see how their engagement with posts impacts the performance of these posts. This will be particularly helpful for marketers and influencers who want to maximize the reach of their posts.
Consumers will have more control over their data
As social media expands and evolves, the way that brands and social media platforms handle users’ data is likely to change. Currently, social media users are often asked to give up control of their data. Brands and social media platforms can then use this data to create more personalized ads or experiences for users. This is likely to remain the case for the next couple of years. However, as consumers become more aware of how their data is being used, they are likely to push for more control over it. This may take the form of regulation and government intervention. It may also lead to consumers taking a more active approach to managing their data. This could involve the use of blockchain to verify the legitimacy of such platforms. It could also involve consumers taking a more proactive approach to managing their data and controlling how it is used.
Summary
Social media has come a long way in the last two decades. The first ever social network emerged in 1997. Since then, social networks have become mainstream. They’ve also become more sophisticated and their use has expanded beyond social interactions. This has led to rapid change in the way that we use social media. The next few years are likely to bring even more change as social media evolves and adapts to new technology and user behavior.
