With the rise of voice technology, the evolution of AR, and the growing balance between the positive and negative effects of social media, there's a lot to focus on in 2019. A second analysis of Mary Meeker's latest Internet Trends Report.
There are many interesting observations from Mary Meeker’s latest Internet Trends report. We’ve already looked at the state of social media advertising and this is an analysis of emerging technologies and how social media contribute to our health at a personal and professional level.
These topics can be helpful when examining the future of social media and new technologies that can shape our marketing strategies and also our very own use of online tools.
Voice content and voice technology have seen stable growth over the past few years.
Podcasts have become one of the most engaging methods of content consumption. In fact, there are more than 70 million monthly podcast listeners in the US. The number has actually doubled in just four years and it’s useful to keep this in mind when thinking of our content strategies.
What makes podcasts special is the option to reach your audience at a time that you normally wouldn’t, e.g. during their commute or while they’re multi-tasking with other activities. The average time of focus while listening to a podcast is way higher than reading a blog, for example, which makes them highly engaging.
Voice technology is also changing our daily habits and Amazon Echo is a great example of it. There are more than 47 million people having Amazon Echo at home in the US. The number of people installing Amazon Echo has actually doubled in just one year.
What’s encouraging is that voice technology is not just growing in terms of the installed base but it’s also evolving. Amazon Echo has seen impressive progress in building the skills that will make the technology smarter and more useful.
Augmented reality can see many different applications. One of them is improving image-based communication. Google Lens and AR image analysis allow the evolution of communication.
In just two years we’ve started seeing the shift from the first stages of visual text identification to the real-time visual text translation. There are many campaigns and technologies that could benefit from it and it’s an evolution that can be very interesting over the next few years.
The editing of images has also seen similar progress. Snapchat revolutionized AR gamification and its Lens Studio has brought AR technology closer to all of us. It’s not a coincidence that the Community Lens views have skyrocketed over the last two years. It’s now easier than ever to bring AR technology in fun and engaging content. The option to edit your images and create your own version of a filter has inspired many marketers and even social media platforms that follow such ideas.
Storytelling has also changed with the rise of augmented reality. It’s not difficult anymore to edit your content. In fact, we have also seen the rise of collaborative editing and storytelling that makes user-generated content easier than ever.
Canva is one of the apps that promoted the idea of simplifying design for everyone and it introduced the rise of collaborative and feedback-driven design.
This is very helpful for marketers who want to create a design for their social channels while improving their design skills in a simple and accessible way.
There has been a big conversation lately on whether social media is positive or negative. Mary Meeker’s report reminds us that social media platforms can contribute both to positive and negative factors that affect our health.
Self-expression, self-identity and community building are strong indicators of the positive side of social media. However, there is also depression, anxiety and body image consciousness that might come out as the negative health-related factors on social media.
As we’re spending a lot of time at a professional level on social media channels, it’s good to look at the possible ways that we can focus on the positive side of social media to improve our wellbeing.
It’s interesting, for example, that there is an increasing number of people who are trying to limit their personal smartphone use in the US. Similarly, parents are becoming more conscious of their children’s internet and phone usage.
Our digital wellbeing can only be improved once businesses and tech giants support it. We’ve seen over the past year that Apple, Google, Facebook, and YouTube have introduced different ways to improve wellness.
There is still a long way to go but it’s good to see that social media platforms are heading towards a direction that understands the importance of more mindful use of their channels.
Tech giants have still a long way to go to reduce our negative experience of social media. However, it’s encouraging to see the increasing efforts to reduce problematic content on Facebook, YouTube, and also on Twitter.
Except for our personal experience, these efforts can also be helpful for our marketing campaigns. Authenticity and trust can drive improved success and the reduced problematic content can highlight the posts that actually deserve our attention.
These graphics from Mary Meeker’s latest Internet Trends Report 2019 look at the future of digital platforms and our own use of social media.
The combination of AR, voice technology, and improved use of social media can help us:
After all, the more up-to-date we are with the latest trends, the easier it gets to create more effective campaigns that stay relevant in the longer term.
