Social media apps have always been the most loved and popular networking mediums to stay connected with family, friends, & like-minded people. With time, these apps have evolved beyond the confines of social networking. Today, social media apps have become a highly effective tool for businesses to make their digital presence felt and maximize customer outreach.
As per a research report published by the online platform “Datareportal” in July 2022;
“Social Media boasts of 4.7 Billion active users across the globe. This accounts for 59% of the world’s total population and 93.6% of the total number of internet users.”
The leading social media platforms are Facebook (2,936 users), YouTube (2,476 users), WhatsApp (2,000 users), Instagram (1,440 users), WeChat (1,288 users), TikTok (1,023 users), Facebook Messenger (1,000 users), Telegram (700 users), & Snapchat (617 users).
The aforesaid statistics indicate the sky-high demand for social media apps! Needless to say, social media mobile app development has become one of the most lucrative investment options for entrepreneurs. However, for crafting a bestselling social media app, one must integrate the most sought-after features and follow the prevalent trends. This post explores the key social media trends that are gaining traction amongst app users.
Social Media Trends to Consider for Mobile App Development
Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
Integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) technologies into social media apps has become one of the most popular social media trends. AI/ML algorithms enable social media platforms to comprehend the context of user-generated data and manage operational activities more effectively. AI also allows you to integrate revolutionary app features like facial recognition and chatbots.
Facebook employs the AI-empowered tool called the “Deep Text.” This tool understands the context of using certain words, abbreviations, slang, etc. This way, “Deep Text” monitors user-generated data fed on posts, comments, etc. Facebook’s AI-infused translation system automatically translates the posts into the users’ preferred language. Users can now view translated posts in their news feed. Also, the implementation of AI-powered algorithms enables facial recognition. This is how Facebook can recommend whom to tag in your photos.
Utilizing AI, LinkedIn can predict the best-suited candidates for a specific job role. Moreover, AI highlights the LinkedIn users who are on the lookout for a new job. It can also predict which users are most likely to give a response. The renowned platform Pinterest leverages the power of neural networking to obtain amazing results. Pinterest displays personalized content to every user based on their areas of interest. This enables users to make purchase decisions quite easily and quickly.
Twitter makes use of AI for face detection, the formation of complete images, and thumbnail creation. Employing neural networks, the platform can identify those specific sections of an image that users are more likely to adore. With the help of AI algorithms, Twitter suggests to users the aptest replies or comments for Tweets.
Take a look at how the popular AI-powered functionality of facial recognition functions!
Deep Learning, a subset of AI is used to make the facial recognition feature work. Here, Deep Learning algorithms are employed to generate filters that convert facial images into numerical expressions. This data gets processed using artificial neural networks to deliver the desired outcome.
Click here to get insights on some incredible mobile app development ideas using AI/ML!
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality) have been one of the most revolutionary social media trends. The advent of AR and VR into the social media landscape has transformed the user experience altogether. Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and TikTok are leveraging the goodies of AR and VR by offering amazing filters, effects, lenses, etc.
TikTok & Snapchat have used tools like ARCore & ML Kit to provide users with a wide range of face filters and unique effects; right from bunny’s ears to beauty masks. One can apply these AR-powered filters & effects to their videos and photos to achieve unimaginable outcomes. No wonder this trend has garnered immense popularity amongst users.
Snapchat too has leveraged the potential of the AR space by introducing quirky filters & multimedia messaging. Snapchat also offers the facility of scanning labels and barcodes for providing more information & context to users.
YouTube & Facebook has introduced the concept of 360-degree videos. Now, users can share their personal experiences with friends in the form of an interactive VR experience. This feature creates a virtual 3D environment where people interact with each other just like video chat experiences. Facebook’s novel VR-based app “Spaces” offers VR experiences to users with the help of the Oculus VR headsets.
Video Streaming
Modern-era users prefer watching videos to reading social media posts; they hardly have the time or patience to read. Besides, the visually transmitted information is easier to grasp. Hence, the social media trends of live video streaming & sharing streamed video content has gained traction amongst users at a fast pace. Several popular social media platforms including Facebook have leveraged this feature to gain unprecedented success.
Short-duration Story Content
Self-destructive story content is one of those social media trends that has garnered immense popularity amongst users. The trendsetters of this practice are Instagram and Snapchat. The users of the aforementioned apps can set the duration after which their story will disappear automatically. This duration can be an hour, a day, a week, and so on. The short-duration content strategy works wonders to highlight the urgency or importance of the posted story content. It also adds an extra layer of privacy to users’ data.
Promoting User-generated Content
Promoting user-created content is one of the unique trends that has surfaced on the social media landscape. Certain brands are motivating users to create content for them and are utilizing user-generated content for their social media profiles.
For instance, the Daniel Wellington brand encourages users to produce content and tag the brand. Users who do so will stand a chance to get featured on Daniel Wellington’s page. Brands like Dove and Olay motivate users to create content for being a part of their social media campaigns. And, there are brands like Airbnb that entirely depend on user-produced content for their social media posts.
Utilizing user-generated content for branding on social media offers a plethora of benefits. Such content is free and enhances user engagement. Moreover, people consider user-created content to be way more authentic and reliable. This strategy is an easy & cost-effective way to gain trust amongst your target audience and boost your brand image.
Peer-to-peer Payments
The practice of integrating P2P payments in a social media app might seem unnecessary and may surprise you! But actually, this feature adds to the convenience quotient of social media users and enhances the app’s usability. The P2P payment feature turned out to be a USP for popular social media platforms like Facebook Messenger and Snapchat.
Let’s take a sneak peek into how the peer-to-peer payment function works! App owners offer users a secure environment where users can connect their bank cards. This environment ensures safe transactions and adheres to the established regulations & mandates of the region where the app operates. Users can also choose any other preferred payment method supported by the app. The users’ payment method gets connected with the social media app. Now, users can effortlessly transfer money to the desired person/s. Users simply have to click on the button marked as “$” and then, enter the transaction amount for carrying out the P2P payment process. So, if you wish to make your social media app versatile, this feature will be a suitable option to pick.
Bottomline:
The prevalent social media trends, if implemented correctly, lead to the creation of disruptive social media apps. Emerging technologies like AI, ML, AR, & VR and innovative strategies like video streaming, P2Ppayments, self-destructive content, etc. are lucrative add-ons to consider for your social media app. Such advanced features will elevate the user experiences to the next level and help you to gain a competitive edge.
However, these functionalities are complex to integrate and require a good amount of technical expertise. Therefore, to architect an impeccable social media app with advanced functionalities, it’s important to partner with a proficient social app development company that has extensive domain-specific experience.
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