I think the future of social media will move heavily toward more immersive and interactive experiences, especially with virtual reality and augmented reality becoming much more mainstream. Freberg notes that VR has already seen massive growth and is becoming one of the most reliable technology investments for how audiences want to interact online. I also think private messaging or dark social will keep growing since so many conversations are shifting into spaces brands cannot easily monitor. At the same time, polished and overly perfect content will start to fade because younger audiences care more about authenticity and real voices from brands and creators.
For tired versus wired trends, tired trends include fake influencer personas, spammy branded filters, and anything that feels staged or sales focused. The reading warns that bots and fake accounts continue to grow and that audiences are becoming better at spotting what feels inauthentic. Wired trends include ephemeral content, VR and AR experiences, voice based tools, and advocacy style marketing where real users support brands because they genuinely like them. To stay educated in such a fast moving field, I plan to follow real thought leaders, be active in online communities to learn from others, and audit my own skills and personal brand regularly, which Freberg recommends as a way to stay adaptable.
References
Freberg, K. (2022). What does the social media world have that is new [PDF document]. SAGE Publishing.
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