There’s no use denying it. We are well and truly in the social media age. An amazing 89% of all web users are on social media networks, and active internet users tend to spend around 16 minutes of every hour they’re online using social media.
Despite the unquestionable prevalence of social media, the networks are in a state of constant change, and the long-term popularity of social giants is debated daily.
Facebook has received the most media attention of late. Apparently, teenagers are turning their backs on the platform because it’s a ‘Mum’s network’. Professor of material culture of University College London, Daniel Miller, wrote that “Facebook is not just on the slide – it is basically dead and buried“.
Ouch.
Maybe not. Mashable has recently pointed out that “damning evidence that such a migration is taking place is in short supply”. And with 62% of global internet users actively logging in and 3.5 billion pieces of content being shared on Facebook each week, it is still king. For now anyway…
As social media professionals, we must keep an eagle eye on shifting platform demographics and trends. ‘Will Google+ be the next big thing?’ is a question that I’ve been faced with numerous times recently. I personally like Google+, but when you compare its average monthly usage of 7 minutes per user, to Facebook’s 8.3 hours, it doesn’t seem likely. Not yet.
But since we don’t have a crystal ball to look to 2015, we’re going to have to ride out the social media waves to discover which networks will stay strong and which ones will crumble.
Will Pinterest retain pole position as the fastest growing network? (It experienced 88% growth between Q2 2012 to Q2 2013). Will SnapChat and other instant messaging networks continue ballooning? I wait with anticipation to find out!
What are your social media predictions for the coming year?
- Source: Masters-in-Marketing.org
