Posting Live, the Future of Social Media and How 2016 Helps Us Predict 2017

Social media is a booming industry in and of itself with over 74% of the population utilizing at least one platform today. If that statistic alone isn't enough to impress you then you should know that in 2017 the number of users on social media is expected to grow an incredible 8% which will bring that up to 2.39 billion users online. Social media is a constantly evolving industry that responds positively to new technology and new mobile devices and consistently not only meets but exceeds users' expectations. It is an industry that competes within itself and is constantly challenged to appeal to new people, more people, and to a personality which demands instant gratification. Given the relevance in today's society, it is no surprise that most of today's businesses have decided to focus a significant effort into their social media marketing techniques and utilizing programs such as Post Blazer to keep up with this ever-changing industry.

As 2016 nears the end many are wondering how this year's advances are going to affect 2017 and what is to come in our near future. There is so much to look forward to: from the boom in video content, to posting live, to watching multiple platforms blend while taking positives from each other, to Facebook's workplace, and how Snapchat and Twitter are keeping up with a mass of people who want so much more.

1. What we've learned about video content and why it's pushing the future in a specific direction

Most significantly, over the last year we've learned that video content is popular and extremely effective with over 75% of businesses online currently using it to better market themselves and their brand. In fact, Snapchat is boasting over 10 billion views of video content daily which far surpass YouTube. This is especially astonishing because YouTube has been almost entirely geared toward appealing to a video market. This says a lot about what users are seeking, wanting, and enjoying today when there is so much out there to sift through and other platforms have not ignored this information. Based off this information, it should come as no surprise that multiple other social media platforms are choosing to mimic or release a similar option to their current brand, especially concerning video content.

 2. Everything you need to know about Posting Live

Posting live fulfills a need that’s emerged in online users. People are no longer satisfied with a play by play or looking at photos and pre-recorded videos. Instead, they want to feel like they are there in the moment as well. They want to feel connected to everything and everyone. Posting live is the solution to that dilemma and it’s been increasing in popularity from large pages and huge celebrities to the average user broadcasting to their friends and family.

How does it work?

Users and page administrators may write a description and choose an audience before “going live.” During the broadcast the user sees:

1. Number of live viewers – This will help you gauge how well your live broadcast is going and what you’re doing right/wrong to draw people in or push them away
2. Names of friends and/or Other verified people and pages – This helps you pinpoint important figures
3. Real-time stream of comments – This can help you better interact with your followers, and interaction is always good for your page and business!

When the broadcast is over the video will stay on the user or page’s timeline and others can subscribe. Subscribing is great for verified pages and people because subscribers will receive notifications every time you go live, bringing the activity to your page quicker!

We’ve compiled some helpful tips to make Live Broadcasts as beneficial as possible to you. You will definitely want to make the most of your time and efforts and see positive results flood in for your hard work!

• Tell people ahead of time when you’re going to broadcast. This helps build anticipation and makes it more likely that more people will join your live broadcast. A few status updates ahead of time letting people know when you’re going live, why you’re going live, and that you hope to see them there along with a small quip about what you will be doing or discussing in your live video is much more likely to draw in a crowd.
• Make sure you have a strong internet connection! This tip is extremely important. Your followers do not want to watch a live feed cutting in and out visually or auditorily. Usually, a WiFi or 4G connection will be the best but no matter what make sure it is strong and clear! It would be unprofessional to have sound and visual disturbances.
• Use a compelling description. You want to nag at everyone’s curiosity. You want people to feel compelled to tune into your live broadcast. Keep it simple but keep it intriguing. It will be worth it!
• Ask for or encourage your followers to subscribe! Let them know if they like your live broadcast that subscribing will ensure they know first the next time you go live! Let them know it’s easy and worth it to remain “in the know.”
• Say hello personally to commenters tuning in. Use their names, respond to their questions and general comments. This builds rapport with your followers and helps establish your personality and a relationship. We always like to remind you that engaging your followers and building a relationship always comes back to benefit you in multiple ways!
• Longer broadcasts will help you reach more people. Consider wisely the length of your broadcasts. Prepare ahead of time as best as you can and keep things organized. The longer you are online and live, the more likely more people are to see you. This is a great opportunity to pull in more subscribers, new likes to your pages, and increase your reach.
• Go live frequently. Of course, do not over-do it and find a healthy balance with your other content, but going live often helps continue to build your online presence and personality. It is always good to build a relationship and maintain it with your followers.

Those are the most up to date do’s and donts of Live Broadcasting. Live Broadcasting has quickly gained momentum in 2016 and is guaranteed to continue to pick up and increase popularity and relevance in 2017. As you’ll continue to read what else we expect to see in 2017 it won’t be hard to see how well Live Broadcasts play into the upcoming rolls of next year.

 3. What’s going on with Twitter?

 There are two theories as to what will happen with the future of Twitter. One theory is that Twitter will continue to slowly decline but Twitter will not completely die or disappear. This theory stems from the fact that social media users are consistently craving something significantly more detailed and simply put, bigger than what Twitter has had to offer us. Twitter has been about face-paced, bite sized information and often leads to a flooded feed and barrage of information. While this theory holds ground, the team behind Twitter has been instituting changes and has plans that may continue to change the face of Twitter and suit the needs of a huge audience all the better than ever before.

 Twitter has, in a sense, been transforming into a fast-paced news network. Jack Dorsey the CEO of Twitter has recently stated that Twitter is the “fastest” news source and most people are checking it first because of how constantly news is being updated. In fact, we often see in mainstream media references to how fast information is being released on Twitter. This rings especially true in politics and regarding Hollywood.

Some promises we’ve heard about the near future of Twitter is better muting features. According to the people behind Twitter, users will be able to mute conversations that their personal handle is mentioned in (or conversations they have engaged in and are directly following.) As well, in an effort to allow mute to further benefit users, when muting entire conversations users will be able to do so without removing the entire thread from their timeline and many users may find that beneficial.

Feeding into Live Posting and how social media users want first-hand experiences; 360-degree images are booming and live video may be a part of future experiences.

4. How Social Media Platforms are Blending

It seems like each unique platform has realized that part of maintaining their success involves evolving with the future and part of that evolution appears to involve taking successful aspects from each other and figuring out how to appropriately incorporate them into each other. Most notably we have seen features cross over in these ways:

• Snapchat has Memories which mimics the longer lasting and favored photos of Instagram
• Instagram has Stories which humorously mimics the similarly named Snapchat feature allowing people to see more specific “photo stories.”
• Facebook’s trending feature, which is increasing in popularity, seems to mimic Twitter and Facebook Messenger also has begun “disappearing messages” similar to Snapchat’s entire primary platform.

Snapchat’s moment-focused form of communication has genuinely helped form a huge part of the social media user’s need to experience moments as they happen everywhere. Snapchat has truly inspired a lot of other social media platforms and has a very promising future ahead of itself. Reportedly, 2017 Snapchat upgrades will include introducing “real world glasses to help users capture first person visual information.” This presents massive social media marketing opportunities for anyone willing and ready to dive in head first.

5. Focusing again on Facebook

Facebook has made huge changes in 2016 and Mark Zuckerberg has shown no desire to slow down his constant quest for improvement with the world in mind. Over the last year Facebook has revealed:

• Marketplace – Essentially a Buy/Sell/Trade tab that connects users in proximity to each other easier than some Buy/Sell/Trade groups and websites like Craigslist and eBay. Marketplace was very recently launched for most users and is already booming.
• Reactions – Gone are the days of simply liking a status, photo, video, or post on Facebook. Reactions gave users a more interactive opportunity to like a post with a thumbs up, love a post with a heart, laugh at a post with a laughing emoticon, wow at a post with a wow emoticon, or be angry with/at a post with an angry emoticon. This feature has actually really boosted interaction opportunities for users, pages, and businesses and encouraged new forms of content!
• Facebook Live – The popular new option we have heavily discussed today
• Instant Articles – Facebook’s instant articles load an impressive TEN TIMES faster than mobile web browsers and has been a popular feature for most users

One of the bigger yet less talked about features coming out of Facebook right now is “Workplace.” Workplace provides an ad-free space separate from users’ personal newsfeeds and accounts and is helping businesses connect all of their employees in one place. It includes individually personalized newsfeeds and voice/video calling. Mark Zuckerberg has said that Marketplace is “an app but I think about it more as a way of running a company.” It’s certainly going to be interesting to see how it helps shape the way people do business in the near future but Facebook is committed to its users and working FOR them.

Social media definitely has a lot to offer us today and 2017 will be no exception to the ever-evolving industry.