Social media continues to flourish and evolve. This development will continue in 2014. However, a number of new social media trends emerged over the last one year and will affect the next year’s development of the sector. Instead of summing them up, we have decided to see how they will or will not develop in the near future.
Here are the some of the most interesting social media tendencies we saw in 2013 and predictions on how they will evolve over the next couple of years.
The Rise of Photos Will Lead to the Fall of Words
Image sharing social media websites were one of the most popular ones in 2013. Some of them quickly turned into a phenomenon after they added video sharing support. In the upcoming months, the sharing of photos and videos will increase even more. However, images will still be more popular among users. Image posts will start to dominate the online social world and text posts will be a rare sight. In fact, Twitter may no longer be criticized for the 140-character limit.
From Web to Mobile and Back to Web Again
Mobile traffic jumped to unbelievable levels over the past twelve months. A huge number of social media users rely on their smartphones or tablets as primary devices to access the web. Also, more and more social media services are created exclusively for mobile gadgets, like Vine, for example. In 2014, this will evolve in a strange direction. Actually, it will take a step backwards. Mobile-only social platforms will launch websites that can be accessed by desktop browsers. Vine is already planning to do that. That is because users want to be able to update their statuses on every device they use.
New Key Role of Ads in Social Media – Stay or Go?
An increasing number of social websites started showing ads and improved their ad and marketing services in 2013. That lead to higher ROI and made many people think that social platforms will soon turn into marketing platforms. Don’t worry, it will not happen in the near future. Companies will take a step back from social networks and try out other marketing strategies. They will continue to be active on social websites. However, they will use them more to engage in a conversation with their audience and as a consumer service tool.
Social Media Growth Will Encourage Rivals to Shake Hands
Social media continued to grow in 2013. It started to include more fields like entertainments, news, marketing, politics and etc. To keep track with the trend for universal social network, social platforms will need to merge with some of their competitors. The first signs of are already seen. Facebook now owns Instagram and Twitter – Vine. Expect more merges in the next few years.
Will Young Love Facebook Again
In 2013, Facebook registered a decrease of young users. Studies showed that people under 30 were pushed away from the social networks by the abundance of animal photos and brands it offers. Now, young people spend more time on Tumblr, Snapchat and Instagram. You may think that once away, they will never come back. Well, you are wrong. The demographics of social platforms are very dynamic and it can be hard to predict. Therefore, it is too early to announce a death sentence.
By looking back at the past, you can find many hints about the future and social media is no exception.
