With its recent surge in popularity and unique approach to content distribution, the platform is attracting major news outlets and reshaping how media organizations connect with their audiences.
While major players like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini chose to sit out election coverage, Perplexity took a calculated risk that paid off handsomely.
As people start to pull back from their screens, marketers must now face the challenge of keeping engagement high in an environment where users are tuning out.
A version of this article first appeared in the Media Minds Newsletter. Subscribe today and get the newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a week.
As social media evolves, so do the trends on the various social media platforms. As this year begins to come to a close, there are some key trends to keep a close eye on for 2024.
Big Changes for Popular Platforms
The year 2023 has been a big year for the social media world. Back in July, one of the most popular platforms, “Twitter” was officially rebranded into “X.” This once again shined a light on text-based apps.
X still remains at the top of this category of platforms, with no plans of slowing down. However, some other similar apps are on the rise. These include Mastodon, Bluesky, and Threads – Meta’s Threads being the most recent development of the bunch. Millions of people use these every day, reflecting the rise in text-only content popularity.
The Professional Landscape
X isn’t the only platform that could be seeing some major changes. LinkedIn, best known for being a professional social media account for those in the working world, is also becoming a bit less relaxed. LinkedIn is also making some changes to its algorithm that are tailored towards spreading professional posts that may have something to offer other users.
The platform is now putting more value into professional work-related content again, while trying to appeal to a younger crowd. Users are now encouraged to post content based on their own professional experiences that others can learn from. Younger generations are rapidly becoming more involved with the platform.
Video-Based Trends
Several studies show text-based platforms may be starting to replace the use of search engines on the Internet. But text-based platforms aren’t the only ones rising in popularity, and they aren’t the only ones on top of this trend. Video-based platforms are emerging as competing front-runners. TikTok, for example, is already beginning to merge Google search results with its own. These platforms are not only used for searching for information, but for every-day tasks like shopping too.
Over the years, it quickly became apparent that the average social media user gravitated towards shorter form videos. But this trend may also be shifting. If some users utilize social media for information, many of those same users are looking outward to videos to answer their questions or pass the time.
Many platforms are already experimenting with allowing users to post greater length video. A trend to look into is turning original content into informational videos that last a couple of minutes instead of keeping it to less than one. It is also still true that TikTok is the leading platform for starting content trends.
On the topic of videos, YouTube shorts are also gaining traction. Billions of users have joined in on watching these videos since its launch in 2021. Creating these videos can also be as simple as repurposing former TikTok and Instagram videos.
Photo Posts
It’s not just text and video posts that are changing. Photo posts are also increasing in popularity. You may remember that several years ago when social media was still gaining popularity, platforms like Instagram only allowed for you to post one photo at a time. That didn’t stop many users from making multiple photo posts within the same day. This trend was phased out, but multimedia platforms have found a way to bring back the trend – this time in a less spam-like format. Instagram carousels, which allow users to add up to 10 photos to the same post, are trending. TikTok has also adopted this feature, allowing for up to 35 slides per post.
The Shift in Engagement Tactics
When it comes to social media engagement, there are a few other factors to consider too. There are some evident shifts in the social media landscape. Instagram is one of the platforms on top of the trends, showing users analytic insights and amping up their direct messaging features. Many users are gravitating towards the use of private messaging over conversations taking place in the comment section of a post. This includes business-to-customer conversations.
Scrolling through your feed, you may also come across some accounts asking for their posts to be shared instead of likes or comments. This is because these are better signs of engagement. There are many follow, like, and commenting bots across the platforms. Shared content is a little harder to fake and is best for spreading the content being produced.
The Use of AI
The use of AI has been a topic of conversation for a while now. It has gone beyond the use of just ChatGPT. That platform, as well as other platforms geared more specifically towards social media posting, are being widely used. Sometimes the content they generate is even more effective than human-written content.
A new trend that is likely to stick around is the use of these AI resources to generate captions, write posts, schedule posts, and expand on ideas. Although we have not gone full AI just yet, utilizing these resources to at least some degree can help you stay ahead of the game. Many marketers are already using it.
There have been many shifts in social media trends in 2023, and there are likely many more to come the following year.
With its recent surge in popularity and unique approach to content distribution, the platform is attracting major news outlets and reshaping how media organizations connect with their audiences.
As people start to pull back from their screens, marketers must now face the challenge of keeping engagement high in an environment where users are tuning out.
This new communication style is changing how users interact with the app, helping creators build stronger connections with their viewers or in brand messages.
