So, what exactly did we raise our glasses to the other night?
Is this the second day of an even newer age of digital social interactions? Are we minutes away from the next site through which we can pin pictures of our friends to our news feed, apply filters and hang out with connections with whom we share a common hashtag?
Or are we just going to muddle along like usual, living our lives out through every social medium that is available on our pocket smartphone?
Posts like this recent Mashable piece would have us believe that businesses and consumers alike will start looking for something a little less commercialised than Facebook – and now Instagram for that matter – in the very near future. That people will soon grow tired of promoted posts clogging their feed, and the “relevance” alogorithms that have turned regular friend-to-friend Facebook interactions into more of a bought popularity contest than ever before.
But if the New Year’s Day well-wishing I saw on my news feed was anything to go by, it would appear Facebook’s army of fans is not going to be switching teams in a hurry. With more than a billion users, there are still plenty of reasons to dedicate resources to your Facebook strategy, and revise it to suit current trends.
Social media examiner’s predictions for 2013 recommend you think in pictures. With photo sharing sites Instagram and Pinterest widening the playing field in 2012 and increasing their shares of social media traffic by 17,319 and 5,124 per cent respectively, it would be wise to invest in creative people who can make your business much prettier and more “likeable” online.
Many of the large retailers who experimented with Facebook’s e-commerce platform have since decided to stick with the status quo, but make sure you keep your eyes peeled for developments in this arena, as well as the latest and greatest “freemium” options (such as Facebook’s post promotions), to ensure your blood, sweat and tears have some degree of impact on the public.
One Forbes blogger reckons she achieved a much greater quality of life when she quit social media, and is urging readers to do the same. I wouldn’t say you should set a resolution to ditch social media entirely – not even your personal page (you need to walk the walk to talk the talk) – but it is a good idea to streamline your activity. What worked well last year? What was more headache than it was worth?
Rather than muddle along with erratic posts on 10 different social media platform, you’re better off concentrating on holding your ground and building your fans on the channels you know well – or freeing up a few resources to test out the new kids on the block and decide whether they are your cup of tea or not. We all know about the importance of a “like”, and so do the social networks. Only when the users, when YOU, like a network will it become a success. If you like something, chances are others will to, and you’ll be on to a good thing.
To a year full of doing things you like, and others like, too!