What’s next for social media platforms?

Various Social media platforms around the world bid for our attention and do their best to keep us inside their universe for as long as possible. This concept is best explained using the model of the attention economy – a fascinating model and I highly recommend learning about it, as it can help to frame your thinking around all the touch points that brands have with their consumers.

The digital environment is moving at an incredible speed. To give you an idea of the speed at which things are happening, here are a few relevant dates:

• Facebook was created in 2004
• Twitter was created in 2006
• The iPhone was launched in 2007 and the iOS app store was launched in 2008
• Instagram was only created in 2010

Could you imagine a world without Facebook? Well fifteen years ago we could. In 2018 a report calculated that daily users of Facebook spend roughly 41 minutes on the platform every day – Facebook has over 2 billion users and 1.4 billion daily users. A quick calculation and you realise how much global attention the platform has.

Platforms are constantly on the lookout for ways to claim more of our attention. Staying up to date with developments in this space is fascinating and key if you want to learn about how these platforms can help you communicate with a brand’s community.

Earlier in the year, I shared a few thoughts on social media and our behaviour. Have you ever check how much time you actually spend on these platforms? You will be surprised how quickly the time adds up. You can read the full blog here. It’s an exciting time to be working in the marketing and brand space!

If you’re interested and want to discuss the space further, drop me an email (joshua@cnandco.com)

In amongst some other big releases for 2020, Facebook recently shared an insight into their virtual reality unity, Horizon. It’s a virtual reality-based social networking platform, essentially talking Sims the computer game to a whole different dimension. Horizon was launched by Oculus, Facebooks virtual reality unit that they acquired in 2014 for over US$2 billion.

Here are a few links where you can read more about this latest Facebook development.

• Facebook’s Oculus launches Horizon, a virtual reality-based social networking platform
• Oculus is trying to make the Quest the only home headset that matters

From virtual reality to libra, 2020 is building up to be a big year for Facebook. This is just one of the platforms that is bidding for our attention and I will unpack some of the other developments in the social media space over the coming weeks.