From those who still share posts on Facebook to those who chase the algorithm of TikTokby those looking for the perfect image of Instagram to those who forget the filters on BeRealby the faithful to Twitter to those who bet everything on the Fediverse of Mastodon. I social network this year they caused more discussion than ever and will remain the center of attention also in 2023: but what will be the trends we will see in the next year?
Social Network in 2023, between trends and possible changes
Social networks attract more visits than any other online product, with the sole exception of the Google homepage among the top most visited sites. What are you looking for funny videos on TikTok or YouTubethat you post your opinion on Facebook o Twitteror that tell who you are on BeReal: on social networks there are many very active worlds.
But after a year of momentous change, 2023 could become the year that the landscape of social networks changes altogether. Due to new trends, but also geopolitical concerns and positions taken against CEOs (especially those who lose the polls to remain managing directors). So let’s go and see how the main social networks will change in the next year.
TikTok, between success and American fears
In the United States the number of minutes of video watched on TikTok surpassed that of YouTube. And all over the world, the success of Chinese social media has wowed. But not everything is working out for ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok. In the USA, Congress has banned the use of social media on smartphones by government officials and 15 states and universities in their jurisdiction they blocked the social network officially.
North Eastern University professor John Wihbey explains: “One might think that, if things heat up between the US and China, that the company could get squeezed by regulators. Some of this rose’s bloom may be wilting because America’s elites and leaders are starting to focus on the problem. TikTok could become even more problematic than what happened to Facebook after 2016“.
On the other hand, TikTok is testing new ways to reward its influencers (with the Italian Khaby Lame as the first for followers, we recall). And this could once again boost the public success of the app. Between stricter rules and a wider audience: TikTok will be pushed in two opposite directions in 2023.
Social networks in 2023: Twitter and the new rival, Mastodon
Twitter is certainly not the most used social network in Italy, but it has become the most discussed this year and will remain so in 2023. The main reason has a first and last name: Elon Musk. Of his achievements as CEO after buying Twitter for 44 billion dollars we have already talked about it several times.
With Musk stepping down as CEO, will things change for Twitter next year? According to North Eastern associate professor of marketing Yakov Bart “In the end it will not resolve any issues because it is not yet clear whether Musk treats Twitter like another engineering company, like Tesla or SpaceX, or whether he has understood that the success of the company depends give her human dynamics and how humans interact with it”.
Musk wants to bet on the subscriptiono Twitter Blue and turning Twitter into an “everything” app, from social media to payments. But whether he will be able to do so will depend on the first months of next year.
Meanwhile, the alternatives to Twitter are increasing, among all Mastodon. Which since Musk has been a Twitter executive has gained two million subscribers. The open-source and decentralized social media by Eugen Rochko it has no ads or algorithms. And it is based on several servers, connected to each other (and to other social networks) in the Fediverse, a federated online universe.
The operating mechanism takes time to work to its fullest. But more and more users are learning to use it. Professor Rahul Bhargava explains: “Will Mastodon become a global superpower? No. Will it become a viable alternative? Actually, I think it might. Which is great. We need new social channels and we need alternatives. We cannot leave these important means of communication in the hands of three American corporations”.
The universe of Meta: Instagram and Facebook
Meta’s social networks will most likely remain the largest in the world in 2023 as well. But being big doesn’t mean being happy. Facebook, the company created by Mark Zuckerberg and which took social media to another level, has seen a decline in profits and users this year. And with an aging average population, it has to invent something new.
The problem is, as Bhargava explains, that: “Facebook can no longer be successful unless it invents something used by several billion people. And there are only a few things that can be used by billions of people.”
Zuckerberg’s focus on the metaverse may pay off in the long run, but in the short term it has resulted in a 70% drop in the stock since last year. In 2023 on the social network par excellence we will therefore see more video content with the introduction of Reels: a way to bring the social network closer to Instagram and TikTok.
Instagram will become even more the main source of income for Meta. Especially thanks to Reels: TikTok-style videos are shared every day a billion times. But we also expect news from the point of view of NFTs to give creators new sources of income. Not to mention that Instagram is already testing its own “clone” of BeReal. After introducing the Stories to emulate (and beat) Snapchat eh Reels to compete with TikTokthe Candid Stories want to compete directly with BeReal. Leveraging the mass of billions of users of Zuckerberg’s social network.
BeReal: there is still room for a new social network
Apple nominated BeReal the best iPhone app. Users have a narrow window of time, once a day, to share an image with their smartphone’s rear and front cameras. A quick picture of one’s life, without filters and without posing: a breath of honesty in the world of social networks that has already conquered orover 50 million and aims to grow further in 2023.
But the great diversity of BeReal is that not only does it not want influencers posing, but it has no form of monetization and actively aims to keep us away from the app until the moment in the day when we post and see what they are doing our friends. Something that makes it harder to imagine that the app is sustainable in the long term, from an economic point of view.
But in 2023 the Memories should arrive on the social network, the memories of the old BeReals made. A journey through the memories of your days that could instead make you want to spend more time on the app. But the real challenge is: Will BeReal be able to continue growing, without distorting its nature?
Figure out what will happen to BeReal in 2023, along with doubts about Twitter e Mastodonabout the titans Facebook and Instagram, as well as on TikTok and geopolitics, will be among the technological questions we will ask ourselves most often in the next 12 months. And then there are Snapchat which remains relevant, Hive who wants to grow. In all of this, we haven’t counted social-video platforms like YouTube e Twitchnor messaging apps with social elements like Telegram e WhatsApp. The world of social media has never been as active and varied as it is today and in 2023 it will be even more so.