We have entered a new era of social media – so what happens now?

Last night at the offices of Social Chain in Manchester, our own Dan McLaren chaired the latest Digital Sport Manchester panel, this time focusing on engaging with a younger audience.

Social media is reaching its plateau phase, where instead of rapid growth on the main platforms, there’s a steady rate of usage as people have incorporated it into their daily lives. Over the last four or five years, though, there has been little movement. The order of the hierarchy may have changed, but there is still a ‘big four’ and few of the features have been revolutionised.

The question, then, is what happens next: will there be disruption to the current landscape or will people start to adopt new trends beyond what is fast becoming ‘traditional’ social media? And since younger people are usually the fastest adopters of new technology, it makes sense to ask how clubs, leagues, publishers and brands can engage with what we’ve taken to calling ‘next-gen’ fans.

Twitter often feels like the platform which is most in danger of losing its lustre in the face of the others. Facebook is miles ahead in terms of users and engagement, while Instagram is fast taking second place.

But what Twitter has over its competitors is the ability generate real-time interaction, breaking news and conversation in a way that the others simply can’t. It’s not dying because its unique selling point is one of the things that fans crave: genuine interaction with (and between) their heroes. Not only can you directly get in touch with your favourite player, but you can also see how they interact between each other.

For sport in particular, that’s a God-send: the fast-paced nature of the sport, with its breaking news and rumours which come and go in the space of a few hours, lends itself perfectly to Twitter.

But perhaps one of the issues the coming years will throw up is the seeming stagnation amongst the platforms and how it is forcing some football teams to look elsewhere for fan engagement. There has been slow evolution – Twitter has added live video and extended the number of characters in a tweet, for example – but only really Instagram’s Stories function has significantly changed the feel of any of the main platforms.

Whereas ten years ago social media was a novelty, now it is just a banality of everyday life. So where exactly do we go from here?

About author

Chris McMullan
Chris McMullan 831 posts

Chris is a sports journalist and editor of Digital Sport - follow him on Twitter @CJMcMullan_

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