Short Form Video Taking Over – Yes.
SFV has given the power to creators & brands in a completely new way, and it isn’t discriminating between the super slick ‘professional’ style and the more casual vine made popular by the rise of TikTok. The pros I’m all about: information-packed content that can be consumed by audiences faster than ever, in a way more on brand than ever. If there is no other trend you jump on in 2023, make sure you invest time and effort into exploring how to use these best in your business to educate, entice and excite your audience.
Instagram Auto-posting – Yes.
Obviously. This is a long overdue feature, as admitted by IG themselves. Live posting is a romantic theory for a platform built around authentic content and interactions, but especially as recent changes have made it apparent that the platform is focused on businesses and creators putting out the most real, high-quality content they can.
NFTs. – Absolutely not.
NFTs are currently being played out stupidly, but the principal behind them isn’t overtly stupid – to me, they don’t belong in 2023 or any year until they have a less detrimental impact on the environment and they are a less volatile (currently unregulated and with no real value meaning you can stand to lose A LOT). In 2022 alone we’ve already seen large-scale losses from early investors, which makes it harder to see their future.
Recommended Content – 50/50.
TikTok started the recommended trend with its FYP, pushing content from creators you don’t already follow with a lot of success. And from a creator perspective, it’s great – with an increase in engagement, a lot of accounts love the change up and the renewed focus on authentic and (dare I say) organic reach. However. With increased recommendations popping up in feeds, platforms like IG & FB are now leaning further into entertainment platforms rather than social ones.
Twitter – 100% no.
Even pre-Elon, Twitter in Australia never really had the same impact as many other platforms. In the Elon era, its usability has plummeted beyond normal measure. Even ignoring the ethical issues now facing the platform, it’s reliability from a data perspective is in question with the rise of inconsistent account suspensions, changing policies, thrown out processes it’s no wonder large amounts of businesses are choosing to invest their dollars elsewhere.
Social Media Shopping – Yes, and I don’t care that it’s impractical.
Ok, it’s not really impractical, but platforms are hoping to move forward with a faster shopping experience hosted right on channel in an effort to gain back some of that consumer trust and maybe some of the control when it comes to juicy data that helps advertisers shape and scale campaigns. Nurturing loyalty and building brand communities will be more important than ever.
AI Art – I hate this.
As someone who is pro automation and always looking to improve efficiency, this isn’t it. Ask any artist, using ‘references’ (aka artworks) to generate something and label it as an original isn’t progress, it’s devaluing – removing the emotive value and talent element changes the way in which art is presented and used in the world. Digging my heels in on this one.
IMHO, 2023 is going to be a really interesting year with new digital wilderness to explore and the collapse of some outdated empires.
