Join the visual revolution

During the recent school holidays, a handful of pupils and university students dropped by the North Coast Courier for some work experience.

These young individuals are all to some extent interested in journalism, but it was more interesting to hear that most of them did not, nor have they ever had, a Facebook account.

As social media is a massive news gathering source and platform for media companies to promote their content, journalists cannot get things done without the likes of Facebook (excuse the pun), Twitter and Instagram.

But what if the younger generation are no longer interested in Facebook, because it’s nothing new?

Their parents and teachers are on Facebook, and no teenager wants to mingle with old folk over the interwebs.

While millenials were the ones to grab Facebook and Twitter with open arms and quick fingers, these days the youth seem more interested in visual platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat and Pinterest.

Trends analyst Dion Chang from Flux Trends said especially Generation Z – aged 17 and under – are using visually focused platforms.

“I would agree that Snapchat and Instagram are the preferred platforms for Gen Z, as well as millennials, while I would say that Instagram is taking the lead as a preferred social media platform for most people,” said Chang.

“We are moving into a hyper visual era, so the migration to visual social media platforms like Pinterest as well as Instagram also needs to be considered.”

Arthur Goldstuck, managing director at World Wide Worx, agrees.

“The key takeaway from our last social media report was that visual media (Instagram and YouTube) have enjoyed the strongest growth in the social landscape,” said Goldstuck.

He explained in the Social Media Landscape Report for 2015 that Instagram was the fastest growing social media network in South Africa from 2013 to 2014, growing 65% from 680 000 to 1.1m users.

“It appears that the underlying dynamics of Instagram are beginning to shift, with teenagers in particular taking to it as a platform for selfies. In this context, Instagram takes over from Facebook,” said Goldstuck in the report.

Twitter grew to 6.6m users in 2015 and Goldstuck points out that the significance in this number lies in the engagement of the users on the network.

“On average (users) engage more in following, posting and commentary behavior than any other social network.”

But when it comes to Facebook, Goldstuck states in the report that in the context of teenagers abandoning the network, it should be noted that 13 – 18 remains the single, biggest age group with 2.5m users.

The age group 31 – 40 did see the biggest growth of 29% while other age groups increased at a consistent upward curve.

For the average Joe on the street all this might not make much sense, but for businesses this becomes invaluable information on how to reach their audience and with what medium.

“YouTube and Instagram are likely to see the biggest first-time use by brands in 2015. The visual revolution is going to be as real for businesses as it will be for consumers,” reports Goldstuck.

So those young interns got a thing going and we best jump in and join them.