Lindsey Komson

Featured image by Pixabay

I grew up with social media.

And I don’t mean that social media was accessible to me my whole life. I mean that as each year passed, social media continued to evolve from some nonsense apps to people’s entire livelihoods – and even careers.

While social media has grown immensely over the past few decades, I think we’re in for even more growth in the upcoming decade. One prediction I have is that normal, everyday things we do online will be integrated into the social media experience. We’ve already seen the success of TikTok Shop – I think a full online shopping experience from any brand will be available straight from social media platforms. Another example – while I use Google to search for everyday things, I’ve noticed that my younger family members search for things using TikTok. As the years go on, I think searching on social media rather than online search engines will become the new norm.

Aside from people’s personal lives, social media has an immense effect on businesses and marketing. Karishma Borkakoty of Sprinklr.com explains how businesses have been able to create and maintain relationships with consumers over the years through social media. Social media used to be “perceived as a fairly limited way to achieve trusted, meaningful engagement with customers and prospects,” but is now an “intrinsically different medium.”

A brand or company’s social media presence plays a huge factor in whether consumers will engage with the brand or purchase from them. By collaborating with influencers, playing into trends, and connecting with target audiences where they’re at, an established social media presence is what sets successful companies apart.

So for companies looking to elevate their social presence going forward, I believe Instagram will dominate over other platforms. Given the controversies surrounding TikTok and X and the downfall of Snapchat’s popularity, Instagram is bound to surge in success. The app basically combined the best features of all other social platforms and has seen successful numbers because of it. And with the uncertainty of TikTok’s future, Instagram Reels will definitely take over as the primary place for video content.

As social media and technology continue to evolve, I think we shouldn’t be surprised to see AI integrations into social platforms in the near future. Tons of content creation platforms have already implemented these tools, such as Canva AI and CapCut’s auto-generated captions. I would expect to see AI-generated post options on each platform at the very least. People use AI art generators on platforms like Adobe Creative Suite, but I think it’s time text and content idea generators become integrated into the platforms themselves.

There’s a lot of unknowns with the future of social media. But with the way it’s evolved so far, I expect a bright, powerful future for one of the most important tools in today’s society.