I’ve been thinking a lot about social media recently. Where it’s going from a big picture perspective, and my own personal use. From a big picture perspective, all platforms are TikTok-ifying – an endless scroll of short videos algorithmically served to maximize time (and ad revenue) in app. From a personal perspective, it now feels purely like media consumption – not a social experience. It rarely feels like time well spent.
Which brings me to the latest battle in the social media platform wars. Meta has launched Threads to usurp the flailing Twitter. The platform grew dramatically, partly because it was so easy to sign-up. Brands are starting to post, however up to 70% of daily Threads users have started to leave. Casey Newton makes a strong case why Threads might still win, particularly given Elon Musk’s move to “rebrand” Twitter as X and to reinvent the platform as a super-app. We’ll see.
After using Threads a bit, I find the whole thing oddly depressing. A brand-new platform that looks and feels (intentionally) like another platform, which is trying to become exactly like another type of platform. Where is the innovation in business models, community governance, or experience design? I think this feeling of fatigue with conventional social media is what’s driving people to smaller, more distributed, private messaging platforms. Something new, not more of the same.
Gen Zzzzzzz
I find it tiresome (and kind of hilarious) how the marketing world continues to be so taken with Gen Z trends. It’s like we’re studying some alien species that has been cloned, so every creature thinks and acts the same way. Here’s a round-up of my favourite Gen Z insights from just the last 2 weeks:
Gen Z have poor communication skills and work ethic
Gen Z are power hungry hedonists
Gen Z are starting to feel old (ridiculed by Gen Alpha)
Gen Z loves cold drinks
Gen Z loves sharing their locations, privacy be damned
Gen Z is flocking from Twitter to LinkedIn
Gen Z freaks out when they receive a phone call
Gen Z hates to slow dance
Gen Z believes men paying the bill on a date is sexist
Gen Z hates wearing pants
How broad is that brush we’re painting with? Here’s a good POV from Bob Hoffman, reminding us that “There’s as much variation within generations as there is between generations.”
Fresh Decks
Consumer Trends (Dan Frommer): Excellent (and free!) 102-slide deck that covers everything from AI, weight-loss drugs, non-alcoholic beer, and the pandemic trends that ended up being contagious (too soon for COVID puns?)
Holiday Insights (Reddit): This summer is moving way too fast for me already, and the fact that Reddit has now posted research and insights for planning your next holiday campaign isn’t helping.
State of Travel 2023 (Skift): If you work in travel, bookmark this great resource. Skip to section 9 for the "digital" content – interesting perspective on Hopper successfully using gamification to drive bookings.
Cool Beans
Is that a rollable iPhone in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?
Shopify integrated a calculator into its internal calendar app to display the cost of a meeting. Any cashback for leaving early?
Love this timely creative from WWF / McCann Germany to highlight animal extinction.
