As the world enters a period of uncertainty, how we communicate on social media has become more important than ever.

Long gone are the days of capitalising on relevant events and tying these into your brand – consumers want more, and rightly so. We’re no longer phased by content which lacks relevance and emotion. Social media is moving as fast as it is culturally – so how do we capitalise on this from a brand perspective, whilst still appearing relevant?

Social media has granted us a breadth of opportunities but with that opportunity, there have been consequences. We’ve witnessed the impact of cyberbullying and the effect it has on mental health in Jesy Nelson’s BBC documentary; ‘Odd One Out’. Jesy rose to fame with pop band Little Mix and was abused online. The digital exposure she had from an early age has had a heartbreaking impact on her mental well-being. We’ve also seen the harvest of our data using apps we deem only a bit of fun such as FaceApp.

Although we may be aware of the implications of using certain apps and products – are we really considering the wider implications from our own privacy point of view?

From this point, we then ask ourselves if something of this scale can ever be regulated. In recent months, platforms have looked to regulate themselves before they’re officially forced to. We saw Twitter ban political advertisements, the ASA in the UK clampdown on influencer marketing with #ad, and Instagram hiding likes – removing the like count validations that many influencers seek. It’s evident, brands want to be the change, not fit into it.

However, platforms aren’t the only ones making their own rules. Users are doing the same. Privacy has become important to users, and the sharing of their own life is something they want to be able to do at their discretion. Looking in particular at the Rebecca Vardy and Coleen Rooney ‘scandal’ of 2019 ≠ push past the hilarious ‘Guess Who’ and ‘Line of Duty’ memes ≠ Coleen’s desire for privacy pushed above it all. It was her desire for protection which fundamentally shone through. With a candlestick. In the library. Just kidding.

So, with that in mind, what key trends can we look to incorporate into our social media strategy for 2020?
 

First and foremost, let’s add value. We’re placing more value on digital creators and the content they create, whilst holding them accountable and giving credit where credit is due. Users are starting to call out brands that don’t credit and boycotting career plagiarists. Back in October 2019, singer Lizzo came into hot water over lyrics used in her song ‘Truth Hurts’. Said line was claimed to be previously tweeted by Mina Lioness, a British singer-songwriter. Once Lioness heard Lizzo wanted to trademark this line – users supported Mina in her fight to gain the recognition she deserved. Lizzo later acknowledged Mina by stating “the creator of the tweet is the person I am sharing my success with…”.

In a world where content can be created by everyone, users take a stance to stop those from plagiarising the ideas and work of others.

As we consume more content on our phones than ever before, people are looking for balance in their lives and to enforce social self care. This not only reflects an accountability on screen time and knowing when to switch off, but the fact we’re looking for positive, wholesome content to consume. We’re seeking optimism, and in the current climate – that’s more important than ever.

Social self care also carries across into apps which keep us connected. Both Strava and Goodreads are great examples of apps which can help us feel connected in these uncertain times. As a Strava user myself, having noticed a lot more ‘Lunch Run’ content than ever before, we’re able to maximise on what’s available to us whilst feeling very much part of a community. So let’s give Kudos to one another for that!

Influencers have been around for some time now and whilst a lot are doing a great job at promoting themselves and the brands they work with – there is a growing backlash on influencers that mock influencer culture with users calling out damaging behaviour and thus being a ‘bad influence’. Last year, Fashion Ambitionist had a ‘surprise’ proposal well-documented on Instagram Stories. However, the proposal was anything but a surprise when it was later discovered that her now-husband had created a presentation deck of the event and circulated it to brands, looking for sponsorship. No shame, or a carefully crafted plan? 

As users we’re now looking for private digital spaces to engage with Vs. public ones. The future is private.

We’re keeping our Instagram accounts on lockdown and we’re choosing to show snippets of our life that only we want to. In addition to that, we’re using closed communities as safe spaces. Facebook groups are a great way of conversing with those who share similar interests to you.

Our attention spans are shorter than ever, but our ability to read long form content is on the up. We’re now engaging with running commentary – longer and more complex narratives. Twitter threads have become a great source of both information and entertainment. The information provided in each of the 280 character tweets are giving us bitesize chunks of content that we can consume at our fingertips. We’re also seeing a rise in long form captions on Instagram to get our point across. This more detailed, yet concise approach, is one which users are appreciative of.

Brands are merging cultures, verticals and genres and by doing so they’re reflecting on the individuality of users. This cultural crossfit, enables brands to resonate with multiple cultures at once. In January of this year, TikTok and Epic Games (Fortnite) announced they were collaborating to create the next big ‘emote’ for Fortnite Battle Royale. Once chosen, the dance will last in the game forever. Their strategy to align with the ever-popular TikTok demonstrates the will to keep the game within the scope of popularity.

The ever-changing landscape of social media can be daunting for a lot of brands. So how can we engage effectively? The constraints that we see as a brand, should be flipped on their head and viewed as catalysts. This is the time to be more creative and to push the boundaries and the norm. Now, more than ever.