Social Media Forecast: What to Expect from Social Media in 2016

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December 31, 2015

It’s that time of year again, when we look to the New Year with hope, expectations and curiosity about what’s to come. It’s easier to develop goals and resolutions when we’re able to forecast what will happen in the next year. It just so happens that Market Hardware has a team of experts that live and breathe Social Media. Every year we hope to breathe new life into what we practice and preach, and what better way to do that than create a forecast for what lies ahead.

We’re going to give you a sneak peek into the future – we might not be able to tell you if you’ll win the lottery (sorry!), but we can at least give you an idea of what our experts are predicting for Social Media in 2016. Kick back, relax and enjoy a nice glass of eggnog, champagne, or your favorite holiday cocktail while we forecast what to expect from Social Media in 2016.

Buy Now Buttons: In the new year it will be easier than ever to purchase items through Facebook. Facebook introduced “Buy Now” buttons on their sponsored ads, so items can be purchased with the click of a button through the ad. We expect this feature to take off in the next year as it gains popularity. Keep this in mind if you have new products you’d like to sell online in the next year.

In-App Functionality: Facebook and Twitter are working hard to develop in-app functionality, which ultimately means visitors won’t need to leave their Facebook or Twitter applications to search/scan the internet. For example, Facebook users are able to watch videos on Facebook posts rather than leaving Facebook to watch the video on a separate site.

Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for Twitter’s Project Lightning, which will allow you to easily and quickly view Tweets based on various events, i.e. local updates, news, sports, etc.

Privacy Awareness: It shouldn’t be surprising that due to recent security breaches on social platforms, businesses will be ramping up their privacy efforts. Social platforms want users to continue using their platforms, but if there’s a threat of a security breach, users may shy away from putting their information on the Web.

Facebook is in the process of creating more in-depth privacy settings, so their users can rest assured their information remains private.

As we all know, social platforms are always changing. It isn’t unheard of to wake up one morning and have your Facebook interface look different than it did the night before. We hope the information provided allows you to understand what we expect to happen in the Social Media world in 2016.

And be sure to stay tuned for our 2016 Overall Web Trends Forecast coming soon!

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Brian Kraff

President at Market Hardware, Inc.

Brian is a co-founder of Market Hardware. He is a member of the ‘club’ of Internet media executives who are tapped into the daily changes of how the internet affects all small businesses. Brian is a frequent speaker at Industry and Association tradeshow conferences. He was an integral part of the group of marketing experts who pioneered the pay-per-click model in 1996, the pay-per-lead model in 1997, and has been at the forefront of getting customers from the Web ever since. Prior to founding Market Hardware, Brian was the founder and CEO of eStudentLoan, the world's largest comparison marketplace for student loans. His role as a Founder and Chairman of 13 Colonies Software (now part of Interwoven/Autonomy) was a highlight of his experience in the Enterprise Web Content Management space. Brian has a B.A. from Cornell University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.