It's hard to believe, but 2022 is already here! In the world of digital and social media, what new trends can we expect to see in that time? To get ahead of the curve, let's take a look at some of the things that are likely to dominate over the next few years. From Metaverse, augmented reality to live video, these are sure to be hot topics for content creators everywhere. So read on - and start getting ready for 2022!
As we move further into the 2020s, social media will continue to evolve. One of the most important platforms to watch will be Facebook. Recently, Facebook has had a recent rebrand from Facebook to Meta. The metaverse is a virtual world that allows users to interact with each other in a 3D environment. Facebook has become its first stepping stone. The company's current product Oculus will be refreshed with the new Quest virtual reality headset that can connect to your mobile device via apps like "MetaQuest." This expansion towards an immersive digital society could have significant impacts not only within our social media world but also across other emerging technologies such as AI-based text analysis tools for language translation programs or brainwave monitoring interfaces.
The metaverse is still in development, so it's unclear how it will fare against other virtual reality platforms. However (and not to undermine its huge potential in the long term), Meta’s metaverse is still far from becoming a reality, and it will probably be some years before we see significant progress.
It's no secret that TikTok has become the star of 2021. Its growth in recent years has been exponential: it currently has more than 1 billion monthly active users in the world, and some media estimate that by 2022 it will overtake Instagram.
What does this mean for brands’ social media strategies?
As TikTok has continued to grow in popularity, so too has the number of filters and effects available to users. This has led to an increase in creativity among users, as they find new and innovative ways to use filters and effects to create unique content. This trend is likely to continue in 2022, as users become more creative in their use of filters and effects.
More brands are finding success on TikTok. The platform is not yet heavily saturated by advertising or company pages, so companies who manage to get their positioning right will gain a competitive advantage that could be decisive in the future.
As the app continues to grow, it has become an engaging platform for brand collaborations or challenges between users of the app. While there are many of these types of posts on TikTok, more than on other social media platforms, this type of engagement is still on the rise and will continue to increase in 2022. Social media strategies for brands on TikTok should not only be focused on presence but also on participating in these types of contests or collaboration with other users on the app.
TikTok is continuing to support creators by boosting their content. At this time, it seems that the app will be focusing on promoting and supporting individual users with new features for now- however, there might be an appearance from enterprise accounts in future updates or campaigns through the ads platform.
Instagram has been the go-to social network for years now, but with time it seems that this could change. In 2022 they plan on implementing new features in order to keep users from switching over completely and making TikTok their home base instead!
Instagram is set to introduce new ways to compensate original content creators in order to let them monetize their activity beyond branded posts. The type of compensation may depend on how well it's shared or if there is a subscription involved (imitating OnlyFANS or JustForFans). Rumors suggest names such as "Exclusive Stories" and "SuperFollow."
With the introduction of Reels, Instagram wanted to take on TikTok and as its Head Adam Mosseri announced a few weeks ago they will continue promoting this format. In fact, they have already started moving towards their goal with the removal of the IGTV combined "Video" section into one place across all platforms.
The CEO of Instagram Adam Mosseri has also said that the social media platform is actively exploring how it can make NFTs more accessible. Interesting to see how this will develop.
The ability for users to shop directly from Instagram Stories could help brands achieve less linear customer journeys. Brands should take advantage of this new feature by rolling out links in stories and integrating a cart function into the app.
As of this summer, YouTube Shorts was generating over 15 billion global daily views, more than doubling from 6.5 billion in March 2021, Alphabet/Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced in July. “YouTube Shorts continue to gain momentum”.
YouTube also established this year a $100 million fund for creators to pay them $100 to $10,000 per month for producing unique content. Kevin Ferguson, director of global operations and partnerships for YouTube Shorts, said the fund is the first-stop solution for creator monetization.
YouTube continues to tweak Shorts by focusing on creating tools for creators and refining the viewer experience to help users discover new content.
YouTube is looking at several ways to make the service smarter about the Shorts videos it serves to individual viewers.
Twitter seems to be focusing more on news, humor, and entertainment. Posts like this tend to get liked by people, so this is a good sign. In fact, between January 2020-2021, there was an increase in daily user numbers according to Statista from 140 million per day up 14%. What new features will they implement next?
Twitter has announced that they are launching a subscription service that will provide premium functionalities to creators.
Twitter Spaces
Twitter is pushing forward with its Clubhouse feature in 2022. It's unclear whether this will be a success, but we can also expect the platform to gain more functionality.
LinkedIn is always striving to keep up with the latest trends. This year, they are taking another step forward by creating their own Creator Accelerator Program, similar to what Maker Studios had done previously; however, this time, it will focus more on professional content.
Check out some more information about their Creator Accelerator Program.
These are the new features that will be examined by Linkedin:
The future of work is changing, and it's time to embrace the change! The world needs more creators like you. So stay tuned for our next newsletter where I'll be talking about how automation will make us all supercreators.