Can you believe it? Facebook has now been out for 10 years and YouTube is not far behind. These Social Media platforms are still popular today, but others are on the rise. When Facebook started to grow in popularity, the main Social Media outlet was MySpace. At that time, millennials (the main users of MySpace and Facebook back then) saw these forms of Social Media as a novelty. However, now that Facebook has become a universal Social Networking tool, users are starting to look for more unique and specialized Social Media platforms.
Snapchat
Snapchat allows for people to share creative pictures with their friends before the pictures disappear forever. Users can create a series of snaps to create a story and can use Snapchat’s many features to create artistic images. Recently, Snapchat added a new Geofilter option which gives the company the opportunity to gain major marketing bucks, if they choose to. Snapchat’s growth is attributed to the fact that users are able to share interesting content instantly with others. Users can absorb the snaps in a few seconds, then continue with their activities.
Vine
Yep, Vine also makes the list. Why? For the same reason why Snapchat did. For any who may not know, Vine allows users to shoot and post six second videos onto their Vine page. Other users can like, comment, and “revine” the videos, which helps make those videos more popular. Like Snapchat, Vine is a great way for users to share and view content quickly and conveniently.
Secret
Secret allows users to share thoughts and feelings anonymously amongst their Facebook friends list or with their contacts. This is a novel idea that is growing in popularity. However, the jury is still out on the success of Secret in the years to come. The novelty of Secret is great, but when it is experienced enough, will users still find it interesting? After all, we only have so many things that we need to say anonymously, right?
Whisper
Well, we talked about Secret, so we should probably talk about Whisper. Whisper is a similar Social Media application that focuses on anonymity. However, this application focuses on direct messages. These messages are accompanied by a picture of the user’s choice.
WeChat
WeChat is another chatting system with a few interesting features. Besides normal text messing, users can also leave voice messaging. Their voice messaging system is great because it is quick and easy. In the past, we had to sit through the annoying voicemail options to hear a message. Now we don’t. In the future, hands free commands for voice messaging could potentially cut down on the number of texting related accidents, which would make this application more attractive. This app also competes with other services like Skype, with its calling service and visual media sharing. This application also has the potential to grow as people travel, and want to keep loved ones constantly updated.
Shots
Do you want to take a selfie? Do you want to share it with other people that are as passionate about selfies as you? Then Shots is the perfect application for you. Shots allows you to, well, take selfies. It’s intended to be very quick and simple. Shots has the potential to grow because it gives users the opportunity to share quick pictures with others, similar to Snapchat. The difference is that they don’t disappear.
There is no doubt that Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter will remain incredibly popular for years to come. These main platforms have become habitual boredom curers. However, these smaller platforms may offer some new and creative ways to socialize with your family, friends, and even random people over the Internet. Keep an eye on these newer Social Media applications. They may help you with future branding endeavors. The trick will be in finding the best ways to market your brand on each particular platform. As we have learned, each platform has its own unique culture where different levels of advertising are tolerated.
