Social media is dead - Group chats and messaging apps killed it

[Iverson_64]

How exactly is social media defined anyway?

Is Youtube separate from social media? Are forums like Reddit and the Coli separate from social media?

It seems like people's definition of social media is very limited. Maybe people aren't as active on IG or Facebook but tons of people are communicating with each other online through many other formats such as podcasts, Discord, Twitch, etc.

 

[I Really Mean It]

Instagram is in poor state, but that’s primarily due to stupid decisions by its CEO, the most recent being the mindless removal of the ‘recent’ tab for hashtags. Its removal makes it extremely difficult to find and engage with new accounts, limiting your ability to build a following and constricting the reach of the content you post.

engagement for all but the largest accounts has plummeted ever since that change was made.

 

[Sister Mary Clarence]

If you tap the instagram logo on the top left of your feed, you can change it to “following” and you’ll only see people you follow in chronological order.

 

[HipHopStan]

I feel sort of as I never progressed to anything past Facebook and there's definitely been a drop in engagement on that site lately, which has turned me into a part-time user.

Earlier this year, I took a break and went over 50 days without posting anything. I mostly share thoughts and everyday stories that I find amusing and hope to make people laugh. It was fun keeping up with everyone as we all progress through life.

When checking out my friends' pages, it looks like they're posting less too. Most of them share pictures or videos of their families, and kids. That's cool, that kind of limits me in a way. Not to sound pretentious, but I steer clear of posting memes because it feels like I'm just stealing jokes, even though memes are meant to be shared.

The Facebook algorithm is super annoying, too. It keeps throwing ads or random videos at me based on what l've been looking at online and sometimes I never see friends posts. Example: I had a friend who had a parent recently pass away. She made a post about it awhile back, but I didn't know about it until the other day. People have been complaining about it for years, but the FB response is just "Deal with it." It's a bummer.

I don't post many pictures, so Instagram isn't really my thing. I'll browse Twitter every now and then, but I have no interest in making an account just to find friends again. Me making TikTok videos is definitely out of the question as I don't have the patience for it, plus when I really think about it, what am I going to post about? It feels like social media has changed so much, and I think it's gone a bit downhill.

Ironically, message board forums are still going strong, but it seems like they keep that low key nowadays.

 

[CrimsonTider]

Everyone is on TikTok and snap

 

[Umoja]

It's sort of weird watching things go full circle. I think much of it stems from companies trying to dictate what people want.

I grew up with MSN. That was used to stay in touch with people. It's natural that something like Facebook would take its play in the sense that it allowed people to better connect with old friends and relatives.

In the early days of Facebook, that is what it was used for. You found out what events were going on at Uni for it, joined societies etc. You could play scrabble with others and the communication wasn't so political. For a time, it enhanced the communication people wanted to take part it.

I don't know what the fukk it is these days but I don't use it to communicate with others. They have done something to the algorithm and have stripped it of applications people would use to entertain themselves with one another.

Naturally people will scale back to applications that allow them to meet the primary need, staying in touch with people.