Receiving my morning New York Times email, today I was surprised to read an article about how social media companies are losing money, having to lay off employees and overall having a tough year. Meta, Snapchat, and Instagram are all on the decline, many know that due to changes Apple had made in its operations system, Meta had lost billions of dollars in their advertising revenue. On top of that, many young users are shifting and using other apps such as Gas and BeReal.
Twitter has been slow to gain revenue, especially with Elon Musk who had a $44 billion dollar deal, then backed out, but later decided he would close his deal (TBD this week). There is hope for Twitter if the Musk deal goes through since the company will not be publicly traded.
TikTok is one of the most vulnerable apps because a Chinese Company owns it and there has been speculation by U.S. regulators that have been trying to prove that the Chinese Government has been influencing TikTok. If the proof is found, TikTok will be considered a national security threat and that will be the end of the app.
Snapchat is still widely used and has plenty of users but similar to Meta, the Apple privacy changes have made target advertising on iPhones harder which has contributed to the loss of revenue.
Discussion: what is your opinion about these Apps? How do you have any ideas about how they could bounce back in revenue and popularity? Which ones will succeed, and which ones will go extinct?
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/26/briefing/social-media-twitter.html
Hi Morgan!
All of these social media apps are difficult to keep up with! As new apps are developed and catch fire, more of the older apps lose their popularity. I’m very interested to see what happens to Twitter now that Elon Musk finalized his deal. He’s already fired three of the top leaders at Twitter and lifted the restrictions for those that were previously banned from Twitter. I personally think those decisions and future decisions to come will negatively impact the company, but that’s an opinion and time will tell.
A majority of social platforms push companies and brands to invest in advertising to expand their reach, but I’m not sure how successful that is. I’m not one to typically engage with sponsored or paid content on social platforms. But there are times when it’s difficult to tell because the content fits right in with my feed and it’s not disruptive – that’s content I’ll engage with. With the digital landscape becoming more and more competitive by the day, it’s difficult to capture attention and break through the noise. Thanks for the post! Some interesting things to think about.
nice article im use it in my own weblog . thanks
Hi Morgan! Thanks for an interesting read it gets you thinking if each social media app has shelf life.
It’s not uncommon for social media apps to fizzle out and Facebook is one of the biggest examples of that. a decade ago Facebook was the most popular social media app and one of its kind. With Instagram’s rise, the app so decline among young users as they shifted platforms. I think Instagram is trying hard to replicate the TikTok experience with its reels feature. Instagram users have even compared the two apps and jokingly said that “Instagram is trying too hard to be like tiktok”. Banning TikTok has been in talks for a while and if it does happen I think Instagram might have a chance but it’s not guaranteed. The demographic that ig was popular among might still continue to use it but the newer generation has already moved to other social media apps. However, if they are able to engage that generation it’ll save them from going downhill.
Like Olivia, I can’t manage how many apps there are. The nature of these application is fleeting if they are only focus on younger users. They shouldn’t forget that there are other demographic still using these apps who might have the financial capabilities to respond to advertisements. Even Facebook, which seems like a dying social app is still being used by organizations and community groups because it is better equip for that purpose compared to other apps. The main focus should still be on current users and how they are still interacting and navigating the application.
The older I get the harder it is for me to keep up with all these social media apps, and if it wasn’t for this course and my colleagues, I probably would only know a few. The target audience for these platforms, tend to get younger and younger, as new generations are established.
I think it is only a matter of time before some of these go extinct.
Who remembers My Space? The failing of My Space can be contributed to increased competition, excessive spending, and continuous legal battles. Focusing on increased competition, your platform is only as robust as your user base, therefore if your user base isn’t growing neither is your platform. Though some challenges are out of some’s control, providers need to ensure they are consumer centric, innovative, and educated on competition, if they want to remain on the forefront.
https://productmint.com/what-happened-to-myspace/
Hi Morgan,
You touched upon many facets of what’s happening in the social media world. As a user, I have reached a saturation point and can’t handle any more social media apps, but from a marketing perspective, I don’t see Meta losing much ground, at least shortly. I believe for so many brands, primarily where I work, Meta is where their audience and apps like TikTok are not even used. I understand it’s not true for all the brands. That’s why I believe it’s okay to have a few healthy functioning platforms rather than many average-performing platforms.
I also want to touch on the massive layoffs that took place not only in social media companies but other top technology companies. We hear a lot of negativity, especially around Twitter layoffs, because of how it was executed. I read yesterday that at least Meta paid their parting employees huge severance packages and an apology, while I didn’t understand the sudden firing and re-hire policy of Twitter.
Have to imagine it comes down to value: What value are these apps’ audiences getting from their experience? What value from the content (entertainment… education… distraction…) and what value from the community (friends… family…) When audiences cease to find value in the experience, they’ll move on.
Hi Morgan!
All of these social media apps are difficult to keep up with! As new apps are developed and catch fire, more of the older apps lose their popularity. I’m very interested to see what happens to Twitter now that Elon Musk finalized his deal. He’s already fired three of the top leaders at Twitter and lifted the restrictions for those that were previously banned from Twitter. I personally think those decisions and future decisions to come will negatively impact the company, but that’s an opinion and time will tell.
A majority of social platforms push companies and brands to invest in advertising to expand their reach, but I’m not sure how successful that is. I’m not one to typically engage with sponsored or paid content on social platforms. But there are times when it’s difficult to tell because the content fits right in with my feed and it’s not disruptive – that’s content I’ll engage with. With the digital landscape becoming more and more competitive by the day, it’s difficult to capture attention and break through the noise. Thanks for the post! Some interesting things to think about.
https://techybone.blogspot.com/2022/11/Mind-Blowing-digital-gadgets-useful.html
Ultimately, I am someone who uses way too much social media. In fact, I dread every Sunday when my iPhone gives me an analysis on how much I am on my phone and what apps are taking over my life. I have always thought that I may need to put some restrictions on my own phone to help with such a soft addiction. Because of this, I do like to understand how these apps may survive if they are not properly employed and worked on. I feel that if companies can no longer track data habits as easily as they could before the IOS update, they may need to switch to a subscription based pricing model. One that would allow users to use their platforms but only if they pay for them. Something that may wean thousands if not 100’s of thousands of users (like myself) off of these platforms. These platforms themselves have a hard enough time staying relevant, where as facebook is dwindling and BeReal is picking up traction, so adding in the problem of revenue may just be the end for a lot f them.
Hi Gabby,
I can’t keep up with all the new social media apps that are now out. I have heard of BeReal. I am not on it, nor do I see myself on it or using it at anytime. I have never heard of Gas. That will be interesting for me to search up on my own. As an avid social media user, I am afraid to look at my phone every Sunday morning at 9am when my phone is about to tell me my phone usage. I have tried to cut back on my hours I spend on my phone, specifically on social media. I am more successful on some weeks then I am others.
This was an interesting read on seeing how some social media apps are on a decline. It doesn’t surprise me that many are having revenue issues because of the pandemic. However, I don’t see any of them having to shut down any time soon. There have been rumors that TikTok is going to shut down because it’s owned by the Chinese Government. Those rumors have been going on for about a year now and TikTok is still alive and doing rather well. Im sure each app staying or going extinct will have to do with interest. Too many of these apps have the younger audience as their demographic, They need to remember there are other generations that are into social media. Maybe if they start to target those generations, they will see better numbers…
Similar to Henry, I use social media way too often. I swear I pick up my phone for 3 minutes and scroll through 8 TikToks only for it to be 3 hours later and my eyeballs are burning from staring at my phone for so long. I remember a couple of weeks ago reading a similar article about the decline of social media, and I thought that man was crazy for writing that, but I feel like it’s starting to make sense. As for using the apps, mentioned above, I have heard of, or use, all but Gas (which I have never heard of). Personally, I’d like to believe that social media is not going downhill, because like what am I doing getting this degree? But, that’s for another discussion. I hope that social media is just going through a snafu right now and will return to being on the rise.
Hi Morgan,
I agree that a lot of social media platforms are volatile and it’s hard to create a platform that remains popular for a long period of time. As others have mentioned, MySpace completely died awhile back and Facebook has been on the steady decline. I don’t use BeReal, but in all honesty can’t see an app like that lasting for awhile. TikTok’s security threats also make it in hot water as you mentioned, but I think people are almost beyond a point of caring at this point. I remember using TikTok back before the pandemic because my friend showed it to me, and I have been addicted ever since. There are now so many more people on the app regularly. (I used to get made fun of because I was told I was using “a children’s app”, but now people of all ages are on it!) Snapchat has gone downhill ever since Instagram introduced their story feature. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I posted a story to Snapchat instead of Instagram. Instagram is also utilizing Reels to compete with TikTok. I constantly see apps roll out similar features in order to “level out” with their competitors, but the result is overwhelming to me. I miss being able to use each app for a specific reason. Like back when Snapchat was for stories, Instagram was for photos, Facebook was for general communication, etc. Now, I just end up overwhelmed on half of the platforms that I use. For this reason, I could see some of these platforms dying out.
Hey Morgan!
Thanks for the great read! I’ve been an avid user of both Facebook + Instagram since the early days, but I barely use Facebook anymore. Watching them each evolve has been fun but also frustrating at times. I agree with Samara’s point about wishing each app still had a specific purpose. I miss that as well. I honestly find it a little overwhelming to spend significant amounts of time on multiple apps now! They all have too many components and features. It makes my brain hurt. I really just want to see what my friends are up to. Instagram has turned into a constant stream of marketing video content. It no longer feels authentic in my opinion! Everything is perfectly curated (I’m guilty of this as well) and it’s impossible to tell what is real. I don’t want to spend all my mental energy scrolling through sales pitches.
Hi Morgan!
There are so many apps now that throughout the years I have stopped using some apps for other apps. I used to use Twitter, Facebook and snapchat all the time but now I mainly use Instagram and Tik Tok. To answer one of your questions I think all these apps are starting to be the same. Like mostly all apps now allow you to post on your story or have something similar to reels. I think that is why some apps are dying out because everything is repetitive it’s the same features on all apps. Its not like before where each app was unique and known for something whether its was pictures (Instagram), Tweets on Twitter, stories on Snapchat only. I haven’t heard of the Gas app I will check it out.
Hi Morgan!
I am on Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat but feel like I rarely use them these days. I don’t know if there is much they could do to draw me back in. To me, the apps are so repetitive and I feel like I am seeing the same content across all of them. I am interested to see where Elon takes Twitter. Hearing about some of his ideas intrigues me.
Hey Morgan,
I always get wary of apps that are owned internationally because it’s hard to know what the intentions of foreign countries are. Especially when it comes to China, I think there has been an unspoken mistrust ever since the COVID pandemic, I personally have never used TikTok or BeReal but I’ve seen a lot of hype surrounding them in my friend groups. I think part of the success these apps have is because they appeal to the vanity and fame that comes with “going viral” which is the goal for a lot of Gen-Zers using social media. Microinfluencers and even casual users want that attention.
I think apps like Meta and Snapchat would benefit from leaning into that appeal, it’s a powerful motivator and does not die down, just changes form.