I have been in the game of social media for over 10 years and what amazes me to come to this site the first thing that has not changed is the concept and everything under it has changed. We are still posting, scrolling, reacting, sharing. However, the mechanics behind those childlike abilities are changing rapidly and some of the changes are already impacting how I use the internet. These are the technologies that I believe there’s a lot to see and what they could mean to people that just want to connect with other people, other people with or that are just into those things.
Trash for people that don’t eat it
About 4 years ago it was just a bunch of what my friends posted. Now it’s mostly whatever an algorithm sketches out that I’ll watch next. It’s a trend that will only continue to grow. Most of the time, recommendation systems are now able to understand context, not just clicks. They observe your lingering time, replaying of tasks and what your quietly skip. The good news is that it is almost like a ghost story when it is discovered correctly. I’ve discovered some thing else to do for my hobbies/hobbies with no idea I was even looking for them. Unfortunately it is easy to become ‘bubbled’ up. More control for users – think toggles with messages like “show me less of this”, I think the next step will be that! The ones that give up some of that control will get more trust than the ones that don’t.
Generative Tools Changing How Creatives Work
I’ve seen, like people editing one video in one weekend, to three.I’ve seen people go from one video editing over one weekend to editing three. Generative tools for captions, thumbnails, voiceovers and even rough video cuts are part of the everyday workflow. Good news, first and foremost. It makes it easier for someone who does have an idea but doesn’t have a lot of editing experience. The hard part has to do with sameness. If it’s the same tool being used by everyone, content blurs together. The creators who stand out, in my estimation, will be the folks who take the time to use these tools to get the boring stuff done, but remain true to their own voice, humor, and odd little habits. If it’s not coming from a real person, audiences know that.
Augmented and Virtual Spaces
As I’m in the engineering profession, I used to be skeptical of social spaces consisting of virtual spaces for years. The avatars don’t look so dynamic and the headsets were so clunky. The concept is less about a gimmick though, as lighter glasses and improved spatial audio come together. Consider attending a game and a place of art with friends and not being in the same city. Facts are, millions of people already use AR filters day everyday just to improve their face; that isn’t a big leap for AR to appear on a person’s face and merge with the real world. I don’t think everyone’s going to live in a headset—which is what HoloLens is—they will, however, because of the mixed reality experience, be using it as a normal way to hang out, such as at events or fandoms.
Assistive Technology, Interactive Tools and Playful Participation
I’d like to highlight a handful of the lighter moments online, small quizzes and polls, tier lists, polls, tumpins and more small web-based tools to rank and show the flower. Because they’re fast and they begin arguments the most amicably, these formats are effective. Use a favorite picking stick for your Favorite Pokemon Picker. You view them as matches and then make a choice between two and repeat this process until a final answer is reached; then you post it and explain it in the comments. It takes only a couple of minutes, and generates more discussion than a long caption. I think this kind of light game participation is going to increase and I expect more polling, polling brackets and polling pickers to be embedded within posts, instead of on independent sites. When it comes to conversation-starters, anything that requires a small decision usually does.
Decentralized, portable social networks
One more adjustment I’m watching is that of transitioning to open protocols, as your followers and posts will be not confined to different company’s applications. Shared standards facilitate interoperability between services in the networks. I’ve used a couple of them and it still seems like it’s rough around the edges, but they’re pretty appealing. You know how important it is to have your own audience when you have lost an account, or when you have a platform that goes through a rules change in a single day. I would expect to see in the years to come data exports that are easier in apps that are mainstream now, and even more importantly, to take your connections with you with some of this.
Different approaches to verifications, new privacy considerations and the battle for trust
What is real and what is not is becoming a task of everyday.It’s hard to know what’s real and what’s not with the synthetical images and videos created more and more often. More sites will get content labels, provenance tags and features which indicate where a photo or clip is from. Privacy is in the same discussion. Recognition and individual awareness of what to post about and who to post it to is taking precedence, so that they’re now paying more interest in group chat and closer friends chats as well as communities being private. I see I am starting to do like that as well. I am not as open as I could be publicly, but more than that with a small group of people. Any platform that incorporates trust elements that are transparent and visible will be at a tremendous competitive edge.
Niche Communities Instead Of Mass Audiences
The attention is still on the heaviest feeds but much of the action lies in smaller corners. The fans are around a common hobby and they construct a strong and friendly bond. Suppose we have a group of characters that have nothing but discussion about the dragon pokemon; whether it is Garchomp or Salamence, which looks the coolest? Those discussions are particular, passionate and surprisingly deep! Armed with more community tools like live audio rooms, shared boards and built-in events these spaces will be more easily run and discover-able. This is good news for anyone who creates a brand and/or a site based on a hobby, as a small, tight-knit group can do more for a business than a large group of people with loose attention.
Book Cover Photo
I don’t believe that the next big advancement of social media is one giant leap. Its simply a collection of improvements, smarter feeds, easier to create, richer shared spaces, more and more interactive formats; and a growing appetite for control and trust. The ones which win will likely be the ones the place people will sense like they’re not an audience, but a participant. Whether you’re a creator and writer for our this community builder, or just do you want for a someone who loves to scroll, it’s the perfect moment to experiment! Familiarize yourself with a different tool, go to a smaller group, and experience what is really fun. The technology may continue to evolve, but the purpose for which we log on remains the same—sharing over things of interest.
