Did you notice it took me some time to compile this year's predictions? It was the lull I spoke of last year. That's my prediction manifesting itself, surely? I have been quite thoughtful this year, very demure.
Did you also notice that Mark (Zuck) is settling into happy family life with teenagers, and he’s going to become far more online conscious, very demure. Finally, did you notice how socials are the new TV, very exciting, but very demure (because we get to stay home). No? I bet you do now! Read on.
Flashback to my predictions word for 2014, “crusade.” I could have repeated it for the 10th year update, as this option would have been very demure. However, I decided to cachinnate.
Let’s manifest cachinnate, as that’s more my style.
“Demure,” a word that went viral over the summer, has been named Dictionary.com’s 2024 word of the year — beating out other contenders like “brainrot,” “brat,” and “weird.”
“Manifest”, meaning to dream or will something into existence, has been named the word of 2024 by Cambridge Dictionary, after a surge of celebrity-inspired popularity on social media.
Back in 2014, we mused about the rise of the over 50-year-old male voice. Statistics showed this as the fastest growing group of participants on social media. (I’m still fascinated by this – did Bunnings join Facebook, or was fishing posts a must do? #joking #notjoking).
Fast forward, and as of October 2024, there were 5.22 billion social media users worldwide, or 63.8 percent of the world’s population. In Australia, the ratio equates to 50.7% female and 49.3% male.
49.2% of the global Instagram audience are women. However, men tend to dominate platforms such as Twitch, Reddit, and (definitely) X (Twitter). Facebook remains the tech monolith that is has become and is the most-used platform by marketers worldwide (89%), even though it remains listed as 6th on the list of used socials – with number #1 being TikTok (then YouTube, Instagram, etc).
In fact, it’s our digital natives, the millennials, who account for the largest share of social media users, making up 37% of the total. They are followed by Gen X at 28%, slightly ahead of Gen Z, which holds a 25% share. Baby boomers form the smallest group, comprising just 10% of social media users (which I will surmise as being why ‘older’ are not targeted – the money just isn’t there in their marketers’ ROIs).
However breaking it down, data shows that women between 45 and 54 years of age spend two hours and four minutes on social media every day, while their male peers spend one hour and 51 minutes. In the 55 to 64 age group, women spend one hour and 47 minutes on social media every day, 14 minutes more than the one hour and 33 minutes spent by men. In the oldest age group, women 65 and above are on social media for 50 minutes a day. Men, on the other hand, spend 12 minutes less, at 38 minutes.
More broadly online, latest research reveals typical internet users spend 6 hours and 36 minutes per day. This “connected online time” includes watching Netflix and listening to Spotify to online shopping and work-related activities, so it’s not a surprising number. Who hasn’t binge watched a Netflix series or works online for the majority of their day? If we counted our TV watching hours from the past, we could potentially have been higher in our hours. However, it does explain why we are seeing mainstream TV, like 7News Adelaide in our newsfeeds; with stories shared in bite sized grabs. Very effective, very demure. They have joined the party by providing an effective means to disseminate their news stories and to remain the go-to source of news and information.
With news, be the source.
Of course, what has also manifested at work is the super-fast growth of AI. Not everyone is onboard, but it is noted that many more are singing its praises. How many chatgpt scripts do YOU have as your go-to at work? I absolutely have MANY.
“The rise of artificial intelligence, emerging platforms, increased social commerce, and sophisticated data analytics tools are poised to redefine the future of social media.” (quote Clear View Social)
On the horizon are concerns around mis-disinformation, which could be a leftover from the covid era of “who to turn to, to get the facts.”
While most user representative reports focus on people wanting brands to be more innovative and authentic, this has been a constant since social media was a baby, so I predict that that won’t be changing any time soon (humans take longer to evolve than machines). That said, I feel that longer-term platforms such as Facebook have the opportunity to correct the misinformation quickly. Using social media wisely to avoid the suggested and sponsored news feeds with dubious and unfiltered information (often shared as spam by social media illiterates) is key. As is being demure; keeping your social media commentary civil, empathetic and supportive – mindful of everyone’s mental health.
Ask the key question: “What is the best source of the information I absolutely need to know about this?” Or “do I need to share this?”.
“In everything we do, we should first consider the aspects or bigger picture around the issue, task, or need.“ University of South Australia, Ron Corso, Ingenium Project
Generally, people want a factual answer to a question – which means they ask the right question to receive the right type of information. However, “what question do we ask, when we don’t know the question to ask, because we don’t know what we don’t know?”
We need to guide, share, tell stories, or narrate to educate. The need to talk and hear thoughts from each other, to innovate and understand, is streamlining our behaviours.
It is like we are all looking at each other going “ah-ha” or oh-oh”.
This is the way we have conversations to learn. No one speaks in straight structured sentences; we diverge, change tac, and side track. So, this evidence that our minds are naturally creative, not polished or structured, and that we learn through conversations and storytelling is essentially why social media is so important in our world.
And will forever continue to be. So say all of us.
Happy new year.
References
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-statistics/
https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/social-media-usage-by-gender
https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2024-october-global-statshot
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