Lifespan of a social network is becoming increasingly short. Teenage generations no longer overuse TikTok or Instagram, as they have new options available to them. Rate of job placement through LinkedIn is low. WhatsApp groups often devolve into arguments, leading many members to leave. Twitter favors irascible bots. Facebook imposes atrocious terms of service: details that only those who read the fine print ever discover.
Many small businesses focus their efforts on creating content tailored specifically to individual social networks, rather than unifying their creative processes to strengthen their own websites. In doing so, we aren’t truly promoting our brand; instead, we are promoting our preference for one social network over another. On social media, the most interesting content must be sought out explicitly, as algorithms follow a business model that profits by steering us toward addictive, trivial controversies.
The decline in the stock market value of tech companies is linked to this consumer weariness. Now is an opportune moment to sell—at high prices—shares in companies that are no longer capable of further saturating the market. Spontaneous, genuine communication is still best served through synchronous phone calls and asynchronous emails. The most relevant contact information is less voluminous, yet far more difficult to export.
Rubén Rivero