What Does Next-Generation Social Media Say About the Future of Online

Interaction? It's the massive, snorting elephant in the room. Only, this elephant refuses to be ignored. It's smashing through walls, upending the furniture, and flattening anybody that gets in its path. A wild beast unleashed upon an audience that fears and reveres it both at once. And we're all addicted to it's raw, animal nature. Social media. Even as it has become such a mainstay in our lives, it remains just as unpredictable. We submit (as if we could resist), allowing it to suck us in, but we never know exactly what shape we'll be in when it spits us out on the other end. Or which rabbit-hole we'll tumble down next...

Going Beyond Facebook/Twitter Dominance Just mention the term “social media” and people almost automatically think of two things – Facebook and Twitter. The giants on the scene, they've almost become synonymous with social. But the “old guys” may not reign king forever. Give a bunch of teens a cool new toy they love and what's the best way to get them to put it down? Open the doors and let their parents join in, right? And that's what's happening with a lot of the younger crowd on more traditional social sharing platforms. With more adult users on Facebook than ever, from middle-aged soccer moms to grandfathers, kids and teens are fleeing the site fast, and a new social media landscape is forming in their wake.

But Where Are They Going? A quick look at the social media landscape reveals some interesting things about how the world's youth is voting with their social media minutes. Here are some of the sites that are on the radar right now, a snapshot that says something unique about the evolving landscape.

Pinterest A highly-visual social media site, users on Pinterest “pin” things that grab their fancy, in the form of videos and images, to a virtual pinboard. Pinboards are based on all their different interests and then shared with others or made public; interaction includes repinning and commenting from board to board. A social service that isn't going anywhere soon, Pinterest is valued at $3.8 billion.

Instagram The ultimate mobile selfie platform allows users to edit and share photos and videos on the Instagram site or other social media platforms, either publicly or privately. Short videos lasting up to 15 seconds long create a form of modern day storytelling, and the crowd is going wild. Last year, Instagram was purchased by Facebook for a cool billion dollars and now sees a rate of expansion that dwarfs the growth of its mother company, Twitter, and Pinterest combined.

LockerDome A sports-centric social network that hit the scene in 2008, LockerDome brought male sports fans into the arena, many for the first time, to share streaming content on their favorite topic of conversation. After millions of monthly users flooded the site, the owners saw an idea that worked and ran with it, expanding LockerDome into a collection of “lockers” where people gather to interact based on different niche interests in “unified conversations.”

Listnerd Listnerd is a new social sharing site dubbed as “a mix between Pinterest and Tripadvisor.” Originally launched with the intention to develop an algorithm that would allow microbrew aficionados to rank the best beers in the world, it soon moved on to bigger goals. The platform now allows interest-based communities to rank their favorite products in a wide range of categories, has thousands of visitors per day, and is growing fast.

Vine Vine is a mobile app that gives users the ability to create and post small video clips – up to 7 seconds long – and share them in the network via their mobile devices. After being purchased by Twitter in 2012, popularity soared, and in April of 2013 it was downloaded more than any other free application in the iOS AppStore.

Snapchat A controversial mobile app that feels like a slap in the face to wary parents everywhere, Snapchat is so successful that Mark Zuckerberg even offered $3 billion dollars to acquire it... and the owners turned him down. This unique sharing service allows users to snap quick pictures and videos to share with friends – the catch is they self-destruct within seconds, creating a

chance for some creativity, a stab at long-lost online privacy, and rising concerns about just what teens are using it for. According to Forbes, Snapchat has 50 million users.

Understanding the New Social Media Focus Perhaps you've heard the term interest-based social media, regarding a trend in the social space that seems to be on the rise. Social media used to be about socializing for the sake of socializing. And usually with people you knew in the real world. Friends, family, and classmates. But is that changing? New-generation social media sites often have a recurring theme; they're based not on connecting with people you know already but connecting with strangers who share your interests and hobbies. In fact, it began with one of the originals on the field – Twitter and their use of hashtags and follows to stay tuned on trending topics of interest. Even LinkedIn can be considered interest-based in that it forms groups around specific professional industries. But these new social media sites are taking this interest-centric focus to an entirely new level, indicating a change in the direction of the internet current.

Communicating Identity vs. Forming Identity There’s no doubt that social media has always been an interactive, engaging form of communication, but with interest-based sites, there's something more dynamic to observe. Social media began as a way to turn our identities into a currency of sorts. We get together to trade information about ourselves and invest time into one another beyond the usual bumping into each other at school or around town. We stayed in touch. But now, the social media conversation is evolving an emphasis on expressing ourselves through the things we like. Top 10 lists through Listnerd. Image-driven bucket lists on Pinterest. Short, personal videos on Instagram. For instance, consider this. Want two completely different pictures of who an individual is as a person? Read their “about” page on Facebook, any other social media platform, or even (gasp) their corny dating profile. Now, take a look not at how they describe themselves but at the way they express themselves through the site. What they post. The photos they share. The videos. The statements they make.

This intimate glimpse into a more detailed version of this person is the new social media. Self-definition and discovery, and sharing that to the world as it unfolds. Facebook and Twitter allow this type of expression as well; the new generation of social media just embraces it with a little more precision and intimacy.

The Future of Interest-Based Social Interaction It’s difficult to say exactly where this trend will go in the future, but chances are you can expect more fragmentation and less of the type of monopoly we've seen with Facebook. With an all-encompassing approach that tries to keep up with newcomers on their respective playgrounds but often fails, Facebook is starting to seem generic and bland. In the future, social media will continue to become more niche-based as users are drawn to interest-based sites that appeal to their unique personality and connect them with similar people. This has been happening on a huge scale for quite some time in two forms of online interaction you may not think of as social media – online discussion forums and blogging. You will likely see more segregation between teens and adults, though adults, curious about the newest trends will like keep following their kids to new platforms, sending them scurrying on to the next thing.

Will Facebook and Twitter Fade Into Obscurity? Nah – not likely. What’s more likely is that people will split up their online identities among different types of platforms. After all, there is still room in this new social media culture for that side of us just that likes to interact with friends and family. In fact, the world has evolved to a point where we're almost expected to make an entrance into this domain, as well as check in from time to time. If we don’t, people think we're avoiding them. Instead of throwing in the towel on Facebook and Twitter, we'll maintain our identities there and form new, sometimes more genuine, identities in places that encourage self-expression in line with our personal values. The real question: Will this encourage us to become more honest versions of ourselves, eventually bringing the traits we've developed back to share with everyone else we know? Or will it turn us into fragmented people with fragmented online lives, who are more secretive because layers are so easy to maintain in a virtual world? Only time will tell...