Social media features in everyone’s daily lives currently. With numerous platforms out there such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, it’s easy to see why we’ve become a nation gripped by social media and its capabilities. One thing that is very apparent with social media is that it consistently evolves with the times, with the next big thing now being live streaming. But, is it the future of social media?
The big change that has happened to suggest it might be is that there has consistently been a shift away from just posting text on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. People now prefer to make posts which include images or video, with this now being the preferred way of communication, especially with the likes of Instagram and Snapchat gaining popularity over the last few years.
Facebook and Twitter are now geared up for live streaming, with Facebook offering their Facebook Live service, while they also own Instagram which too has live streaming capabilities. Twitter has Periscope, which has also become increasingly popular over the last few years. These services allow people to talk directly to their audience and this is also useful for brands and companies who are looking to interact with customers and potential customers.
Where brands are concerned, a study found that 80% people would prefer to watch a live video than read through posts. The report also found that people are 3x as likely to watch a Facebook Live video over a normal one, which shows just how much of an impact live streaming is already having on social media users.
You could say that dedicated streaming platforms such as Twitch and YouTube have helped to increase the popularity of live streaming, with the former said to have 10 million active daily users.
The expansion of live streaming on social media is what’s really telling, and this indicates that it is indeed the future. 2011 saw the arrival of the YouNow streaming app and since then there has been the development of Snapchat, Twitter acquiring and incorporating Periscope, Facebook launching their live service, YouTube delivering streaming on mobile and Tumblr also making the move into the live streaming market.
As things stand, Facebook and YouTube lead the way where live streaming is concerned, with them sharing the biggest portion of the current market. However, more platforms are now offering streaming services which are certainly music to the ears of brands, as well as everyday users. For example, a leading mobile casino operator like mFortune, could live stream their latest offers, tournaments or games to their selected audience through multiple social media channels.
While live streaming is currently the future, it will be interesting to see how it develops over time, especially with technology evolving at a rapid rate. It’s already made a big impact but the possibilities really are endless where live streaming is concerned, especially with more platforms beginning to focus their attentions on it.
Article by Vishal
Vishal Gaikar is a professional blogger from Pune, India. If you like this post, you can follow him on Twitter.
