Social media continues to be one of the most popular gathering places, as there are no shortage of trending topics for users to discuss. Whether you wish to use social media as a way to discuss sports, politics or movies, you will have several options to speak with the global population.
There are now well over 2 billion people using social media and this is not a number that is slated to go down anytime soon. Facebook and YouTube now have nearly 1.8 billion users and 1.3 billion users, respectively. Let’s take a closer look at some of the biggest social media trends in 2017.
Live Video
Now that more and more people are cutting their cords and getting rid of cable once and for all, social media live video functionality will become increasingly crucial. According to recent studies, at least 40 percent of all those who still subscribe to cable are going to cancel their subscriptions in 2017. With Facebook Live and YouTube Live growing in popularity, the need for additional live video options is decreased significantly.
Added Power for Social Media Giants
2017 is a year for social media giants to take another major step forward, as it has become very obvious that they have no plans to rest on their laurels. Companies like Facebook and Google will decide what you are going to see and marketers must work alongside social media giants if they wish to converse with their chosen target audience.
No More Fake News
“Fake news” became one of the most commonly used buzzwords during the presidential election and in 2017, Google and Facebook are expected to crack down, keeping their audiences from being force fed news stories that are simply not true. Even though Google changed its algorithms to decrease their susceptibility, they will still need to make more changes in the months to come.
More Messaging Apps
While one on one communication between customers can be quite expensive, providing relevant content to the consumer is one of the most crucial tasks that Google will be undergoing in 2017. The development of bots that can steadily learn from a customer’s behaviour are expensive but now that all of the popular messaging apps (such as WhatsApp) can offer savings and a large community than most social networks, you will only see more of them this year.
Virtual and Augmented Reality
2016 was a year where virtual and augmented reality became more attainable and thanks to the efforts of companies like GoPro, virtual reality is far more likely to be implemented on your favourite social media hubs. Once VR becomes a smash hit, our ability to keep in touch with family and friends will be enhanced.
