As social media continues to grow exponentially year by year, it is impossible to ignore. Just a few years ago, social networking sites were used solely for information exchange, but have evolved for virtual gatherings, retail platforms, and important 21st-century marketing tools. The power of social media has catalyzed revenue for thousands of influencers to monetize their channels and profiles. From having personal accounts, to branches off their personal brand (think Emma Chamberlain), the possibilities are endless on these platforms.
Big Social Media Outlets
Various social media sites are now offering a multitude of services in numerous niches in the modern world. The new mobile platform has captured the attention of a record 5 billion cellphone users from across the globe. These are some of the most important platforms to watch for in 2022:
Tiktok
ByteDance, a Chinese technology corporation, launched Tiktok in 2016 as another futuristic social media platform. Originally known as a YouTube-like application, musical.ly merged with this application in 2018. The application has gained popularity around the globe. Approximately 1.5 billion users are on the platform. If we’re being honest, Tiktok is ahead of its time when it comes to sponsored advertising, brand interaction, and user generated content. It helps that the algorithm is not as selective as Instagram- allowing truly any and everyone to go viral if it hits just right.
Kevin Systrom founded the company in 2010; it was later acquired by Facebook in 2011. In its early days, it was a photo-sharing website (if you used the Valencia filter you were cool), but now it is the world's most visited photo and video-sharing website. For brands, it is the best way to communicate with their audience, since it’s easy to adapt a brand personality. The addition of the story feature has been groundbreaking, allowing users to participate in polls, ask questions, and even shop from the platform.
Facebook has had more than 2 billion active users worldwide since it was launched by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004. There is a range of features available to users of this platform, from online chats to media sharing, from marketing to creating a page, from fundraising to creating groups. Each of these services is being offered for free.
The website was initially launched in 2005 as a news-sharing website by Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian. The platform has gradually changed, and after gaining 300 million active users, it has morphed into a social commentary platform and a news provider. One of the reasons that it has become so popular is the fact that users can upvote and downvote posts on the website.
Originally intended to be a microblogging platform, Twitter was created in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams. There are currently more than one billion active Twitter users, according to our sources. The service is wildly popular because it gives users the option to retweet, quote-tweet, reply to threads and more. Think Reddit, but more user friendly.
This website was established in 2010 by Ben Silberman as a pinboard. In the year 2019, it became a public trading company, gaining attention from more than 400 million users worldwide. Present day pinterest is a hub for recipe swapping, wedding boards, DIY projects, infographics, etc.
Snapchat
Three students at Stanford launched Snapchat in 2011 and it has become one of the most used applications. When it was first introduced, the platform was a video-sharing platform based on stories that expired after 24 hours. Numerous personalized filters are available on this social media application, making it incredibly popular with its users.
Social Media Meets Business
The business-focused platform LinkedIn first appeared in the early 2000s, but it was designed as a social network for professionals. As of 2010, companies began connecting with customers through other social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and even Instagram, rather than just the traditional web.
Social media began to be used on websites as early as 2009, businesses started using Facebook and Twitter accounts in television commercials and many tools were being developed to integrate social media into websites. For instance, WordPress plugins allowed users to not only link to their social media accounts but to include their latest social media updates directly on their websites.
The Future of Social Media
Even though it is impossible to predict how social media will develop in the future, it is likely to grow and flourish throughout the years to come. Due to technological advancements, more and more social media platforms will come up with innovations. With the ongoing advancements in digital technology, more businesses will (and should) venture into it.
The only thing we know for certain is that there is no turning back. Social media will never become obsolete. Not anytime soon at least, perhaps never. It has already become a part of the lives of billions of people. The only way to respond is to embrace it. If you are interested in our various social media offerings, drop us a line