Social media experts met on March 31, 2022, at the Social Media Summit@MIT to discuss the ever-evolving social media landscape. If anything is consistent, it’s the fact that social media evolves at the speed of light. Understanding trends, forecasts, and ways to stay competitive, while addressing the growing concerns around privacy, unhealthy influence on minors, and fake news top the list of topics of concern.
5 trends emerged from the summit that experts are watching closely:
1. The psychological impact social media has on children and adults.
This goes back to the age-old adage that dirty laundry sells at a higher volume than more positive stories. It’s not unusual for social media platforms to capitalize on this. Younger online consumers are particularly susceptible and potentially could be harmed.
2. Solutions to combat online misinformation, or “Fake News.”
It’s more than a cliché’ these days to jokingly say “If you hear it online, it has to be true.” Where it becomes problematic is when misinformation is repeated so much that people begin to believe it, true or not. Misinformation regarding the COVID-19 vaccine is a recent example of how untruths can become mainstream beliefs.
3. Algorithmic transparency.
Algorithms are tools used by websites to record the users’ habits and create customized, targeted content to attract, engage, and/or cause users to act in a particular way. Transparency would allow users more information on how they are being targeted.
4. Social Media’s impact on geopolitics and war.
Political posts and discussions on social media have a way of igniting a firestorm, even among casual users. The scale dramatically increases when governments proliferate misinformation to drive an agenda.
5. Standardized AI ethics and training.
AI software is all around us and has a tremendous capacity for misuse, mostly around privacy. We all realize that our phones, Amazon Alexa’s, and other devices listen to us, but do we know to what extent? Are we allowed to know to what extent our privacy is being compromised?
Dil Bole Oberoi
