Was there a point in your life when you’ve ever wondered what the future of social media will be like? It’s very hard to picture how social media will look in the years to come.
Will there be more cool features? Or new platforms that will emerge that we haven’t heard of yet? I know those are the type of questions that are running through your mind if you’re thinking about the potential future trends of social media.
In this blog post, I’m going to discuss the future of social media based on my experience and observations.
I’m also up to date on the latest news from the most popular social media platforms out there so that you can be sure that the trends I’ll be discussing are the real deal.
So let’s get started
- Integration of augmented reality will be widespread
- Increased used of voice-activated features
- Chatbots may become More sophisticated
- Greater focus on privacy and security
- More emphasis on authenticity and transparency
- It may introduce interactive features
- Social media will become more of a shopping destination
- Increased use of video content
- Social media will be the main source of news
1. Integration of augmented reality will be widespread
Do you know what’s Augmented Reality? It’s like a magical superpower where it lets you add digital elements to the real world.
We only see that in movies but now it’s becoming a reality. It’s already happening that the future of social media will be AR integrated and it means that our experience will be more amazing than what it is today.
There’s already a conference where Facebook announced that they are working with other businesses to use AR to show off their products in Messenger.
Facebook, now called Meta, is aiming for cutting-edge technology because they want to continue to improve in future generations.
In the future, I believe that social media platforms will be using Augmented Reality in a creative way.
Try to imagine being able to try new clothes or makeup using AR, it will be easier for you to test it without even leaving your house.
How about being able to tour a park or museum right from your phone? It would surely be exciting and the possibilities are endless.
2. Increased used of voice-activated features
Have you ever wished that you can just talk to your phone and have it do what you want them to do? Increased Used of Voice-Activated features will be added on social media platforms in the future because it will be a futuristic element.
Let me tell you that voice-activated features are already happening today on social media and it’s becoming more popular.
For example, there’s a send voice message that you can perform on the messenger instead of typing everything out.
The finest illustration I saw was that you can now tweet something on Twitter using your voice.
What does this entail for social media’s future, then? It just indicates that voice-activated functions will become increasingly widespread.
There will also be a rise of smart speakers and other voice-activated devices in the future that’s why it’s very clear that people will be more comfortable using their voices to control their technology.
3. Chatbots may become More sophisticated
There are times when users get frustrated because they have a problem or a question then the platform’s service team can’t give the correct answer or they’re not available. So, what’s with these chatbots, and how they can help you?
Well, chatbots were designed to communicate with you like a real person. You may have interacted with them without noticing because they can approach you in a human-like way.
You can easily interact with them and they can be available 24/7. One thing I love about chatbots is they can handle complex queries and provide you with some links for suggestions.
Social networking networks already have chatbots, and I first saw them when I went to make a purchase. I asked the chatbot several questions, and it answered.
A chatbot was utilized by that company’s social media account to reply to my messages.
Future chatbots will be more advanced since they can assist users automatically with tasks like scheduling appointments or making bookings.
Businesses may benefit from it as well, particularly when managing their customer service operations.
4. Greater focus on privacy and security
I’m expecting that social media companies are doing their best as of now to improve their privacy and security because most of their users are concerned about their information.
Social media platforms today are aware that there’s an increasing number of cyberattacks. They want to make a great measures to protect their users.
Two-factor authentication was introduced by organizations like Facebook and Twitter as an excellent illustration of this.
Because it added another layer of security before we could access our accounts, this was really beneficial for our security.
Only authorized individuals will be able to access our accounts thanks to this.
In addition, I’ve seen that social media networks are providing us with greater control over our privacy settings these days.
You may now control who sees your posts and even hide your profile from those you dislike. This is useful for folks who desire to divide their social and personal life.
More and more social media platforms today are applying a greater focus on privacy and security making it harder for third parties to access their data.
It’s great to see when we know that social media companies are serious about protecting our privacy.
5. More emphasis on authenticity and transparency
If you know what influencers are on social media, you would notice that they post fake kinds of stuff. This isn’t new because there are a lot of influencers that are not authentic in what they’re doing.
This is also a feature that I’m expecting in the future because I want social media platforms to push for more genuine interactions with their users.
In the future, there will be a rise of authentic influencers who will be more relatable compared to traditional influencers.
Based on what I’ve observed, people are becoming aware that social media created unrealistic expectations for them. Users today are starting to value genuine content and connection instead of likes.
You must also expect that social media platforms will put more emphasis on the real side of life.
There will be more real-life stories and honest opinions. Users will be more transparent about how they created the content.
6. It may introduce interactive features
Hold on to your hats because this part is going to be interactive! I’m always on social media and I’m excited to see how they can introduce interactive features to their users.
What I mean by interactive is that they will make their platform more engaging and dynamic.
There are many ways how they can do this, it can be through polls, quizzes, and augmented reality like what we’ve discussed earlier.
The first interactive feature that I liked was the “Ask Me Anything” sticker on Instagram.
With that feature, you can ask your followers to submit questions and you can answer them through your Instagram stories.
I was amazed by that feature and it was so entertaining for me. We also have Facebook messenger rooms, 50 people can join a video call and you can play games.
But the biggest interactive feature that I’m expecting from social media platforms is augmented reality.
I know that they are starting to incorporate it into their business and user would experience things in a more immersive way.
7. Social media will become more of a shopping destination
Have you experienced that when you were scrolling through your social media feed and you saw a nice shirt then you decided to purchase it? Well, I believe that experience will be more common in the future.
Most social media platforms today are experimenting with a shopping feature that’s why I believed that social media will become more of a shopping destination.
Try to think about this, if you put some effort to go to the mall, you’re limiting yourself to just window shopping.
If you don’t want to put in some effort, you can stay in the comfort of your home and scroll through your feed.
What I’m saying is true because social media is about to become the new mall. You will have more options if you shop online and you don’t need to put in some additional effort.
Lately, I’ve seen some social media platforms introduce a checkout feature, this will allow their users to buy some products without even leaving the app. This only means that shopping will be more comfortable than ever before.
8. Increased use of video content
In recent years, I’ve noticed that video content is becoming popular and I believe that this trend will continue in the future.
There’s a rise of platforms like Tiktok and Instagram Reels, they are entirely focused on short-form content and users prefer to consume them most of the time.
Social media giants today like Facebook and Twitter is also adding some feature on their platform like Facebook Watch and Twitter live video streams.
Social media companies have noticed that users prefer this kind of content, especially for their entertainment.
In my experience, video content tent to catch more of my attention compared to images of text posts. I also believe that social media companies are adding this feature so that users will stay more on their platforms.
But video content is not just about entertainment, it can also help a lot of businesses and brands to connect with their audience.
They can use a short video to showcase their products or service. They can also provide helpful tutorials.
9. Social media will be the main source of news
Many individuals regard social media as an essential source of news for them. They feel it is a reliable source of information for the most recent news and happenings. They believe it might be a good alternative to conventional news.
Popular social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter already offer news updates through their platform.
They present it through an image or a video. From what I’ve observed, they will continue to provide more comprehensive news and live-stream events.
For example, Facebook has a feature called the “News” tab on its platform and it provides users with personalized news sources.
They have also partnered with news outlets to promote accurate journalism on their platform.
According to Meta, their news partnerships are growing fast in all regions and they are hiring for a range of positions.
However, it’s important to be cautious when reading news articles on social media. You must remember that not all information is reliable that’s why you need to verify the page first if it’s a credible source.
Final Thoughts
Every single day, we are approaching the future of social media and one thing is only for sure, change is coming!
You’ll all agree that social media platforms will not stay the way it is. It will constantly evolve since its development.
It will continue to be powerful and affect the lives of every user. There will always be a constant demand and innovation from society.
