5 SOCIAL NETWORKS TO WATCH OUT FOR IN 2015

 Tech
 Friday, December 19th, 2014
 by Owen Andrew


Has the social media war ended? While social channels like Facebook and Twitter have stood the test of time, many others have faded away or diversified into other verticals. Is a long term picture finally emerging?

Maybe–but not completely! It’s true that a couple of social networks have emerged as the leaders. While most of them had similar ideas to start with, some of them were smarter with their plans, strategies and execution. So, they won and made it big. But rest assured that there will always be a new, disruptive technology trying to shake it up. Stability is not a characteristic of the cyberspace.

Here are a few  hot, new platforms that are likely to grow even bigger next year:

Medium: It is an open blogging platform that encourages users to put up little inspirational stories that can make the world a better place. Instead of the cut throat competitiveness and professionalism of other sites, this one has a purposeful and altruistic feel to it and this is what emotionally appeals to people. As of now people can only follow “themes” which organizes the content based on topics. If you are a content marketer, then this might be a good place for you to ply your trade.

Thumb.it: It is an addictive new platform based on influencer dynamics. You can give or seek opinion about anything. Isn’t it the same as Facebook Likes? Well, the difference is, it also has a Thumbs Down button, something a lot of disgruntled FB users have been hoping for but are not likely to get.

Snapchat: It is an innovative photo and video share site known for its extreme privacy. The trick here is that the shared media remains only for a short duration before getting deleted. So, this creates an urgency to check the posted images and videos. Also, strong privacy measures ensure a serious community and discourage frivolous users.

Learni.st: It is more of a curation platform for different types of content including articles, images, videos and webinars. You can become a thought leader here by creating curated board in relevant topics. In that sense it is similar to Pinterest but it has a strong emphasis on “learning” allowing people to actively seek topics to learn about from the experts.

Quora: It is a question answer site not unlike the Yahoo Answers of yore. But it is a far more sophisticated and socially oriented option. You can ask or answer questions and posting is also easy with its simple yet sophisticated interface. Small businesses can build their brand image by posting as experts and providing detailed and useful answers to relevant questions.

The Social Media Landscape of the Future

One thing these social networks all have in common is that the form taken by their content is not new–messaging, video, questions, etc. are not new ideas. However, they are being made relevant in new ways.

This begs the question of what our future internet landscape may look like in the future–will QR Codes become relevant again, for a mobile-dominated online audience? Some analysts think so. Augmented reality and “the internet of things” are two other ideas receiving a lot of attention, that the quick, concise and connected nature for which most of these networks could be a clear lead-in.

Whether or not the above social networks overtake Facebook, Twitter et al. is left to be seen. In fact, with today’s top social networks changing, it’s just as likely a possibility that each of these social networks are eaten up by the big guys.

However, social media is still changing, and regardless of who is in charge, adaptation is necessary when keeping track of today and the future’s social media landscape.