While Facebook, Twitter and Instagram dominate the social media industry, with 2.9 billion, 290.5 million and 1 billion monthly average users (MAUs) respectively, there is no guarantee that they will remain head of the pack.
Social media usage is continually evolving, therefore it is valuable for news outlets and journalists to try out new platforms and adopt strategies across many different platforms.
These are the new and upcoming social media platforms to consider signing up to in 2022…
TikTok
TikTok is a video-sharing app launched in 2016 by Chinese internet giant ByteDance, which allows users to create, edit and share short video clips with filters and music clips. It was the world’s most downloaded app in 2020 and in 2021 had one-billion monthly active users.
TikTok appeals to younger audiences and 41% are aged between 16 and 24. Although TikTok is mostly used for entertainment, Reuters report that 15% of TikTok users consume news per week and publications using the platform in novel ways, adhering to tropes of the platform have found an engaged follower base.
The Washington Post has one of the most successful TikTok accounts of any news organisation, with 1.2 million followers. Moreover, the paper has broken into a new market, building a relationship with young readers.
Journalist Dave Jorgenson is the star personality of The Washington Posts’ TikTok page. He approaches his videos with a laid-back, authentic approach. At FIPP’s World Media Congress 2020, Jorgenson said: “I have adopted a ‘dad-joke’ persona because that’s who I am – I make terrible jokes often. TikTok for the most part rewards genuine people.”
Last year, former City Broadcast Journalism student and Senior News Reporter at VICE World News, Sophia Smith Galer, won the British Journalism Awards Innovation of the Year 2021 for her use of the platform as a publishing and news-gathering tool.
TRUTH Social
On February 21, 2022, former US President Donald Trump launched TRUTH Social, his “’Big Tent’ social media platform that encourages open, free and honest global conversation”. The alternative social media site is currently only available on the App Store in the US, though, so not everyone will be able to try it out. There are also reports that users have waited weeks for their accounts to be activated.
Clubhouse
Clubhouse rose to prominence in 2020 and 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemics. The live-audio social platform allows people to drop into live voice chats as participants or audience members. In order to access the platform, you have to be invited by a current member, so there is an element of exclusivity.
While Clubhouse has disappeared off the radar a little, it has influenced the addition of audio platforms to many other big names, such as Twitter’s Spaces, Discord Stages and Facebook Live Audio Rooms.
Octi
Here’s a platform we bet you haven’t heard of yet! Octi is the world’s first augmented reality social platform, which merges real life with the metaverse. Octi launched in November 2021 on the App Store.
Members can make videos with AR objects and backgrounds and earn digital Octi coins as a reward for interaction. These coins can be exchanged for real products such as Nike trainers. We’re waiting to see how AR can be integrated into social media sites, but we expect Octi is more targeted towards younger people and fun than a place for journalism.
Snapchat
Launched in 2011, Snapchat is a multimedia instant messaging app with 514 millions MAUs. Originally the app centred around private photo messages only be available for a short time, however updates mean it can now be used for messaging, live-video and a chronological story, as available on Instagram Stories. Other features include AR-lenses and Snap Map, a live location map of where friends are.
For journalists, the Discovery page is the centre of the action. This is the news feed where short-form content is showcased from major news publishers such as The Wall Street Journal, The Economist and The New York Times. To feature on Snapchat’s Discover page, you have to become a publishing partner.
Telegram
Messenger app Telegram was launched by Russian IT-entrepreneur Pavel Durov in 2013, and currently has 550 million global MAUs. It is praised for its encrypted calls and messages, not running ads and an airtight privacy policy. The app is now extremely popular in Russia, post-Soviet counties (such as Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Belarus), Venezuela, Cambodia and Egypt, but it has users across the world.
As well as being a messenger app, Telegram also offers users the option to subscribe to channels. Media platforms can use channels to release news updates or links to full articles to their subscribers. The Guardian and The New York Times are among the publications to have adopted Telegram platforms.
Telegram channels are usually focused on a niche, therefore using subject-specific Telegram channels allows media outlets to develop a specific audience in a similar way to a newsletter might.
Twitter Spaces
As an additional feature of Twitter, Twitter Spaces is not a new platform. But its growing use in the journalism industry warrants a special mention. Spaces is an audio-chatroom, usually focussed on a single topic and allowing the host community management controls.
Spaces launched in November 2020, as a challenger to Clubhouse, but at this time, the feature was only open to those with 600+ followers. In May 2021, the feature opened to all, and with it, media outlets including The Telegraph and NPR have started to use Spaces more frequently to offer direct conversation with journalists and exclusive interviews.
Discord
Like Telegram and WhatsApp, Discord is an instant messenger service, with voice and video call options. When it launched in 2015, Discord was used in gaming circles to connect with other gamers. Recently however, it has been adopted by broader groups. In 2019, Discord had 56 million monthly active users. In 2021, it had 140 million.
Discord allows users to create and join rooms, known as ‘servers’, to chat in. There is also the option to create sub-groups within it called ‘channels’ to discuss specific topics. This aspect is like Slack.
Media organisations in the gaming sphere have long used Discord servers. But with the democratisation of the audience, Discord is on our Interhacktives watch list.
Olivia is a digital journalist studying Interactive Journalism at City, University of London. Interested in audience strategy, arts and culture and health.