Social Media: A Peek at Our Crystal Ball

December 6, 2017
Communications

By Kristie Sigler, Food & Agribusiness Lead, FleishmanHillard

Where social media will be in five years is honestly anyone’s best guess as new platforms and technologies are introduced every day. Their adoption is accelerating as well:  Facebook took a year to get to 50 million users, but only 19 days for Pokemon Go.  While no one can perfectly predict the future, our digital and social leaders believe these are five drivers for the next five years.

Dominated by Facebook: Yes, it is true that fewer Millennials and Gen Z are using Facebook.  But that’s Facebook, the platform many of us currently use, not “Facebook”, the technology company.  And they are the leaders of monetizing their platform, which will continue to fuel their innovation.

All Video:  Why read when you can watch?  Food is ripe for video coverage—while you still can’t taste or smell what is on screen, we know we eat first with our eyes. In the last year alone, Tasty Videos have gone from 30 to 90 million followers—all who watch videos with no people and no words.

Driven by Artificial Intelligence: AI may conjure up images of robots and science fiction, many of us need only ask a simple question to see what role It plays in our life.  “Alexa, add a gallon of milk to my online grocery order.” 

On Everything: Today, you can access social media on your tablet, phone or watch. Imagine social media on your shelf tags. On the freezer door. Consumers will be seeking and sharing information everywhere as everything becomes a surface.

Bring Any Experience To You: We dream of going to places we’ve never been and doing things we’ve never done. Virtual reality can make that happen. Think of providing nutrition counseling via VR goggles or “cooking” in Julia Child’s kitchen.

These social trends will shape how consumers learn about food:  how it is produced, nutritional content and how best to prepare and store. What new nutrient messages will these tools enable you to share? What part of your work will still need to be person-to-person? Only your crystal ball can tell.