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I almost feel like we are in the future of social media in the moment.  With all social media has to offer us and as many platforms its gives us to be able to interact with one another, it is hard to think of what else could become of such a powerful medium to communicate.

Remember the movies and cartoons that show us what things could be like in the future?  The Matrix, the Jetsons.  Hard to believe that computers are such a vital part of our lives these days.  Imagine going one day without using or touching a computer or your smartphone.  They not only help us with our day-to-day activities but also are a major use in the way in which we communicate with one another using social media/networking sites.  Will there be a way to access these sites without a computer or smartphone in the future?

Facebook provides a place where we can stay connected with one another.  We are able to share stories, updates, pictures, etc. with family and friends on a daily, even up to the minute basis.  Facebook now allows live feed videos where you are able to video anything and live stream it on Facebook.  I think the live streaming is pretty futuristic, I mean how much more quickly can we share information and events?  What ever will they propose next in order to compete with the other social media sites?

Mark Zuckerberg wrote a letter about his thoughts on the future of Facebook and in the Business Insider, writer Alex Heath briefly states the key points in his article “Mark Zuckerberg wrote a nearly 6,000 word letter about the future of Facebook that quotes Abe Lincoln – Here are the key points” (Heath, 2017).

Facebook cares about getting people together in the physical world, not just on the internet.  One billion Facebook users are active members of groups, and Zuckerberg sees those as ways to help facilitate real world interactions.

Facebook sees a responsibility to help people stay safe.  Features like Safety Check, which lets users mark themselves as safe during disaster, are important to the company’s future.

Facebook has a role to keep people informed.

Artificial intelligence will be key in keeping hate speech and graphic content off Facebook.

Social media is not only about how to connect with each quickly but also about the “word” or message you want to reach others.

Zuckerberg says, “Facebook stands for bringing us closer together and building a global community” (Zuckerberg, 2017).  Facebook is probably one of the most popular sites for engaging communities and spreading the word of being supportive of one another.  I believe their focus on bringing society together as a “global community” is an important one in order to be supportive, safe, informed, engaged and inclusive of all humanity.  These goals are not easy to accomplish but will have a huge impact, if implemented now, for the future of our children.

Click the link to see his full letter.  https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-zuckerberg/building-global-community/10103508221158471/

Social media has many uses such as promotion, advertising, selling, communication, interaction for personal use, media use, business use, etc.  Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn are a few sites that already allow the ability to provide a direct link to your pages or profile to your own website or any other platform you use to promote your business.  This kind of promotion is an easy way to help simplify your search for people, businesses and organizations alike.

There are many trends that make a social media site more popular than its counterparts.  Take Snapchat for instance.  It is an application where users send short-lived videos to each other or add to their stories.  These videos can last up to only about 10 seconds before it disappears.  Snapchat has fun filters that can transform your facial features for a more exciting experience.  These filters continuously change each day for fun interactions and even include holiday themed filters.  Snapchat has geofilters that provide a location to your story.  One new feature, that has a futuristic feel, is the addition of the Spectacles.  This new feature has made Snapchat go from a software company to now a hardware company.  Spectacles are sunglasses that you can use to Snap.  You can use them to snap your picture or story directly from your perspective, without using your phone.  I believe more companies will start to use Snapchat to promote their product or services.  It is an easy and fun way to engage consumers with snippets of content.

One thing all social media sites have in common is their collection of data.  How they gather data to manipulate users or create content to reflect personal preferences of its users and they use that data may differ.  Social media expert, Warren Knight, provides some insight into his prediction on the future of social media in the article, “The Future of Social Media” (Knight, 2017).  Warren Knight’s predictions for what he thinks will be important for social media sites to stay relevant in the future are data, tools and automation.

Data “helps shape the way we communicate with our target audience online”.  With data, it is easier to share information with your target audience by providing them with content you know they will enjoy.  “Doing your research is key, and finding the data that will help you market using the right platforms, to the right audience will be so important in 2017” (Knight, 2017).

Tools are another prediction that will help companies offer more than one service to utilize these sites for different purposes.

Knight, discusses automation as his last prediction for the future of social media.  Automation is important for companies to help save user information that relates back to the collection of data and user content.  I personally do not like to save ALL my information online with every site that I use.  While it is convenient to save information to easily access your daily sites, I think it is important to keep private and personal information in a place that cannot be easily accessed or hacked into.

The features that differentiate these sites and make them popular will continuously be updated and upgraded in the future.  These sites will follow others or create their own new features and trends that will drive traffic and users to its sites.  It will be important for social media sites to focus on what is important to users and to stay relevant with the younger generation and the trends that make their use popular.

I believe a lot of the future of social media will be a focus on e-marketing.  More and more companies will see the benefits of creating social media profiles to be able to provide content directly to its target audiences.  User data will be available easily and personalized content will be expected from users.  We will want our emails, shopping experiences and news tailored to our preferences.  The term social media, as new as it is, will be the new normal when referring to communication.

Knight, Warren.  6 January 2017.  The Future of Social Media: 3 Predictions for 2017.  Business 2 Community.  Retrieved from http://www.business2community.com/social-media/future-social-media-3-predictions-2017-01750230#iC1VSIR411LS0Y5Z.97

Heath, Alex.  16 February 2017.  Mark Zuckerberg wrote a nearly 6,000-word letter about the future of Facebook that quotes Abe Lincoln – Here are the key points.  Business Insider.  Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-future-letter-2017-2

Zuckerberg, Mark.  16 February 2017.  Building Global Community.  Facebook.  Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-zuckerberg/building-global-community/10103508221158471/

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