Social Media Trends for Q1 2022
From Facebook and Twitter to Instagram and TikTok, your business is probably trying to get noticed on one or more of these platforms. As the marketing best practices of social media continue to evolve it pays to stay up to date on the latest news from each channel.
Today, Joey Armstrong explores three top stories from January 2022, including the expansion of the metaverse and a couple of changes to Facebook.
The Metaverse Grows Larger and More Profitable
2022 looks to be the year that the Metaverse breaks out into the mainstream. By offering digital spaces for users to hang out in, build worlds, and conduct real-life transactions, the Metaverse has created an unbridled new social media potential.
Take the distractions of social media, combine it with face-to-face interaction, and add a dash of virtual reality and you get the metaverse. Yet it’s not just a culmination of members looking for the next big platform — it’s quickly become a profitable real estate market in virtual form.
Platforms including Sandbox, Facebook, and Decentraland have all begun offering virtual real estate space for advertisers and entrepreneurs. Don’t let the virtual aspect fool you into thinking it’s a cheap investment, though. Tokens.com, based in Toronto, spent roughly $2.4 million on virtual space to shore up its advertisement capabilities.
As the metaverse continues to grow, it’s unclear where it will lead but for now, it looks set to become the next big trend.
Facebook Set to Remove Profile Videos
Some Facebook users may rejoice while others mourn the impending loss of a largely unused feature — the Facebook Profile Video. As of February 7, 2022, Facebook will officially remove the feature that allows members to set a short 7-second video clip as their profile photo. This should come as no surprise considering that Facebook stopped users from setting profile videos last year.
For now, Facebook is asking its users to change their profile videos back to a photo. If you fail to do so, your profile picture will revert to the video’s thumbnail. Although not a major change, it does create a small nuisance for users who have applied the feature to their profiles. Nonetheless, its lack of support has pushed Facebook to remove the feature.
YouTube Blocks More Influencers
After YouTube temporarily suspended his account two weeks ago, popular political channel host Dan Bongino continued to share video content encouraging the platform to ban him entirely. YouTube made good on their promise this week by completely removing Dan Bongino’s page from their platform.
The controversy can be traced back to Bongino’s recurring violations of YouTube’s content rules. Over the past few months, he has repeatedly shared what YouTube considers false claims about COVID-19 and vaccinations, breaking YouTube’s terms and conditions about spreading misinformation. Bongino is now the third outspoken critic of COVID-19 protocols to be blocked by YouTube, joining the ranks of Robert F. Kennedy and Joseph Mercola.
Final Thoughts
As the metaverse continues to grow and Facebook makes big leaps into the future, check in often to stay updated on all the news and latest events regarding social media marketing.
