In the last two years, when our lives were disrupted in unprecedented ways, social media was the only constant. While there’s hate and toxicity, there’s also genuine entertainment, a lot of learning, as well as
a sense of community. The social media environment, however, is changing, both in terms of platforms and user engagement.
Platforms in Transition
Twitter is barely surviving Musk. Meta is in freefall. Instagram is moving to videos, ditching its
photo-sharing origin to keep up with TikTok and Snapchat. As we live through the evolution of the biggest platforms of our times, our social media habits and content creation activity is bound to morph.
Numerous users are also moving away from algorithms and curated content, preferring bonafide and smaller social networks that help them build real connections. There’s the ‘anti-Instagram’ BeReal to bring authenticity to posts with no planning and no filters. SuperNova and WeAre8 are positioned as ‘ethical alternatives’, whose advertisement revenues go to charities or deserving causes. And there is Mastodon, which is attracting users away from Twitter, into a less idiosyncratic and non-toxic space.
Go, Algo, Go
With the impending death of cookies, privacy regulations, and a general disdain for algorithms, brands on social media are looking for alternate ways to engage users and deliver personalised content. Shweta Baxi Tyagi, founder of a Gurugram-based digital agency, Beyond Words, thinks that companies will have to move on from targeted advertisements on social media to “pull marketing” with creative storytelling as well as building partnerships and properties like good ol’ times.
Lost Resonance of Audio
Social audio was the biggest boom of 2021 when people were cooped up at home due to lockdowns. But once the world opened up, such indulgence took a backseat. Social audio is not resonating with audiences anymore—nobody mentions Clubhouse much and Spotify is scaling back its live audio ambitions. There’s a niche that is still committed, but most conversations are now happening on Twitter Spaces.
Metaverse Gets Real
While a lot of tech companies jumped onto the metaverse bandwagon in the last two years, some crystallisation of the hype and reality check will happen in 2023. The technology for the immersive experience is already available in terms of virtual and augmented reality. But in the coming year, practical is the word. According to Neelesh Kripalani, CTO at Clover Infotech, “Metaverse real estate can be leveraged by brands to market themselves without people leaving their homes and invoking
a purchase or an engagement.” Tech companies and brands will have to figure out how to make the metaverse relevant for people who might or might not be interested in living life vicariously via their digital avatars. But that’s what we thought of social media, so who knows?
Apps to Try Out
Post News
Instead of being a town square a la Twitter, Post News seeks to be a virtual water cooler for discussions and allows sharing articles under a paywall to attract news publishers and independent writers
Openvy
A made-in-India network for Gen-Z conversations, Openvy is a new take on building communities
Partiful
Almost like Eventbrite, but instead made for events, Partiful is a party planner that helps you make cool digital invitations and build real-world connections with friends-of-friends
Grainery
At first glance, one would almost ignore Grainery for being an Instagram clone. Except, it’s a photo-sharing app for analog photographers, where they can share, learn and collaborate.