From cartoon apes to robot copywriters, it’s been an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish.
December 11, 2023
Studio
It’s the final Everything You Need To Know of the year, and that calls for a round-up of some key trends that have changed the game across social and digital in 2022.
And what a year it’s been.
From NFTs that were very unreal, to apparently new ways to BeReal, we’ve all been through a lot. The last thing we needed was a billionaire making up the rules around what constitutes free speech, but then again, maybe it’s what we deserved.
Here are some of the ‘highlights’...
Get real, BeReal
Just as everyone was getting mightily sick and tired of Instagram’s ever-changing algorithm, that seemed to penalise creators, force Reels down our throats, and prevent users from seeing the content they were actually interested in, along came a brand new app designed to stop the scroll.
Technically, BeReal was founded in 2020, but it was in 2022 that the people started going crazy for its ‘once a day’ authentic content.
But be careful what you wish for. Instagram has a habit of seeing a good idea and, well, stealing it. And that’s exactly what seemed to be happening back in August when they started internal testing of IG Candid Challenge - a two minute window to capture what you’re up to using both the front and back cameras in Instagram Stories.
It’s the anti-aesthetic that’s basically an aesthetic all of its own.
Expect to see more of it, popping up in a social media platform near you in 2023.
Remember earlier this year when everyone suddenly got obsessed with cartoon apes?
Those were the days.
It hasn’t been the best of times for crypto, with prices falling off a cliff, and despite consumer confidence declining since February 2022, the June crypto crash caused an almost 90% drop in NFT marketplace transactions.
And earlier this year the metaverse digital real estate market, which experienced mainstream popularity and millions of dollars worth of investment, started sinking.
According to Forbes, “the weekly volume of property purchased across the top-five metaverse worlds has fallen to $650,000 for the week of August 7 2022, down from $62.5 million in mid-November 2021, a drop of nearly 99%”.
TL;DR lots of people lost a lot of money.
But at least they’ve got the receipts.
2022 was the year that every social media platform started really valuing the people who make them what they are.
Tumblr launched a tip jar feature which allows users to tip their favourite creators on the platform; YouTube announced new ways for creators to make more money for their content; SnapChat tested the ability to share ad revenue with creators.
And it did not go unnoticed by Gen Z.
Instagram's 2023 trend report showed that nearly two thirds of them plan to use social media to make money in 2023.
Apparently AI is coming for our copywriting jobs. Hahahahaha everything’s fine.
AI adoption has more than doubled since 2017 and businesses are using it more and more to automate processes and increase efficiency.
In late November, ChatGPT went viral, demonstrating how the world of so-called natural language processing appears to be entering a new phase.
Which leaves you asking yourself, did a person write the words I am reading right now? Or was it a machine?
I guess you’ll never know…
Gen Z are at it again.
Core Google services, including Search and Maps are being rejected by younger users who prefer social media and videos as a first port of call on the path to discovery.
Senior Vice President Prabhakar Raghavan, who runs Google’s Knowledge & Information organisation said: “We keep learning, over and over again, that new internet users don’t have the expectations and the mindset that we have become accustomed to.” Raghavan said, adding, “the queries they ask are completely different.”
“In our studies, something like almost 40% of young people, when they’re looking for a place for lunch, they don’t go to Google Maps or Search,” he continued. “They go to TikTok or Instagram.”
This demand for visual content will undoubtedly continue to impact the way we search, and you can already see Google responding, utilising augmented reality in Maps to cater for younger users who may have never used a paper version (SOB).
And there is plenty more to come, as the tech giant comes back fighting against the app previously known for its viral dance moves.
No. I refuse. I am not going through all this again.
Just go read all of our previous updates.
Twitter is on fire, that’s it. Leave me alone.
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