It’s impossible not to be a part of social media these days… even if you swear off Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat, Twitter, ect., chances are, your friends have tagged you in plenty of photos and posts. With each journey around the sun, we become subject to new social media trends. Some have been epic and some have been downright awful. Here’s what you can prepare for in 2018.
1. Instagram for the win
Instagram introduced ‘stories’ back in 2016 and man oh man has this feature taken off. Stories allow you to take curated pictures and videos to share with all of your followers. The concept is similar to Snapchat’s stories but instead of flipping between Instagram and Snapchat to see what your besties are up to, you can see everything on Instagram.
2. Reality is going to get a bit augmented
Not sure what augmented reality is? Basically, it allows you to capture real time images and/or videos while also supplementing in computer-generated images and sounds. Augmented reality is nothing new but in the past, it was only available to skilled movie and video game producers. Have no fear, it’s likely that you will get to have some fun with augmented reality on popular apps like Instagram and Snapchat in 2018.
3. Twitter gets a reboot
Compared to other social media sites, Twitter has struggled to grow its follower-base in 2017. Currently, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn have more followers. There is chatter that Twitter will be redesigning how they are going to engage their current and new followership. We will have to wait and see if 2018 brings about some change for Twitter.
4. Brand protection
Facebook and Twitter got quite the criticism about their content during the 2016 election. It’s likely that large social media sites will begin to create strong governance policies surrounding their brand and what content is appropriate for sharing.
Looks like 2018 will be a real game changer for social media. Follower engagement will increase and create new pathways for interaction.
What social media trends are you most looking forward to in 2018? Tweet @StarterNoise.
Katherine is a newbie to Denver. She recently completed her Masters in Peace and Justice Studies at the University of San Diego. When she isn’t trying to save the world, Katherine is all about trying any and all delicious foods, hitting up the beach but not actually swimming (deathly afraid of sharks), and taking as many hikes as humanly possible.