The world of social media moves fast, integrating new technologies on the fly. With every new technological improvement, the lines of thinking on a variety of topics are evolving.
Public sentiment about a certain topic greatly depends on the small group of people described as ‘opinion makers’, who are looked up to for interpretation of facts and general guidance. This group includes celebrities, business people, experts, well-known journalists and other notable individuals, but in recent years it has been expanded by addition retain your social media influencers. The last category is consisted of people who use their social media accounts to promote their opinions, values and ideas to a typically very large auditorium.
Leverage and retain your social media influencers are empowered by technology, and yet they are still just as susceptible to its unpredictable whims as the rest of us. Here are some examples of the link between the medium and the message that illustrate why every social media user, including those with the power to impact others, must remain very careful what he/she says:
Everything is real-time
Without noticing, we’ve grown accustomed to detailed, minute-to-minute reporting about any topic of Retain Your Social Media Influencer, and times when we had to wait for hours to learn the results of an election or a sports match feel like ancient history. The hunger for instant information doesn’t stop at basic facts – we want live video feed from the location coupled with expert commentary provided on the spot. That’s the catch, since the haste can result in human errors and misinterpretations of available data. For example, a huge number of commentators (as well as major bookmakers) expected Great Britain to stay in the European Union even as the votes were coming in during the recent referendum, only to be blindsided when Leave option received support exceeding 52%.
Visual images are hard to ignore
Photography and video can deliver a dramatic punch when they capture situations that go far beyond the realm of experience of an average viewer. Mindless destruction of modern war can be just as captivating as the natural beauty of a waterfall, and these images have a powerful effect on our collective imagination. In a way, graphic images cause greater polarization of attitudes and could push even the most cool-headed observers towards more extreme positions. Of course, a single image never tells the full story and many times such an instinctive reaction may be misguided, even when there are no sinister intentions behind it all. This is a double-edged sword that can cut both ways, rallying the forces for a noble cause or causing a witch- hunt against innocent people.
Mobile screens invite simplicity
As smartphones are getting more and more powerful, mobile access to news and entertainment is becoming standard. The numbers don’t lie – 80% of U.S. citizens use a smartphone to access online content while 41% connects with a tablet, compared to 91% for PC’s/laptops. Mobile devices are very practical and easy to carry around, but they also have significantly smaller screens than computers. That doesn’t sound like a huge deal on the surface, but it affects what type of content will be given preference. Short articles with snappy headlines work the best on mobile, which limits the depth of analysis to a certain degree. Online authors need to find a balance between optimizing their content for mobile and maintaining its quality at a high level.
Direct feedback changes network dynamics
Back in the old days, mainstream media had a monopoly on the airwaves and the opinions presented in the program could never be challenged by independent analysts. Today, feedback can be provided directly and even the most influential online personalities must be careful not to cause backlash. It’s fair to say that no figure has absolute authority on social networks and anyone’s post can be taken out of context or insult a particular group of people. It doesn’t take much to start a war of words on the web and some people might even try doing it deliberately just to raise their profile, so every bold claim should be taken with a healthy dose of reserve.
Smart devices are the new frontier
When Apple launched its first smart in April 2015, many industry experts considered it to be just a fad with no commercial future. As it turns out, it was just a beginning of a trend that keeps gaining steam and totally changes the way we imagine internet communications. TV’s that can double as stand-alone computers, cars that can read your text messages, refrigerators that remind you to get more milk – we are heading into a completely new, information-obsessed era. New gadgets could present additional opportunities for content creators, and might expand the reach of most influential social media voices even further.
