(ThyBlackMan.com) The current state of social media gives many hints about the future of social media platforms. How the next generation will use social media remains to be seen, but after looking at trends from the past and present, here are 6 bold predictions about the future of social media and how it will shape our lives.
Hashtags Will Decide Whom to Vote For
It’s no wonder that people trust the internet more than any other source and this behavior has a major impact on voting patterns. Leaders from almost all the political parties around the world are busy in reputation management on social media channels. According to a research by Pew Research Centre, 62 percent of US adults consider social media channels as their news source and this news is 
curated by the people in their contact list. So most of the time, such sources are influenced by political bias. This trend will grow and in many countries, we will see some groups of intellectuals raising their voices to save democracy.
More People Will Suffer From Low Self-Esteem
On social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, people look at the photos of others and they simply compare their own life with someone who enjoys their happiest moments. With camera filters and clever camera effects, social media is stirring confidence and self-esteem issues among youth.
In a survey, it was found that people of age 18 – 34 feel unattractive after looking at the photographs others share on social media channels. It is obviously not a fault of social media channels because how users look at themselves is completely up to them. But it is obvious that when people compare their own life with others who are more successful in career and enjoying successful relationships, they may feel sad about how they are less successful comparatively.
People Will Pay for Privacy and Peace
Those advertisements, autoplay videos, sponsored messages and images are annoying, but they don’t stop us from checking our social media accounts ten times a day. In the future, premium services will come and ask users to pay for an ad-free experience on social media. The same is happening with many websites and applications today, but almost all the social media platforms are still unaffected by this major change. But in the future when these channels will become an inseparable part of our business and personal lives, people won’t mind paying for privacy and peace.
Mobile-first Experience
The web version of any social media platform throws a bunch of features and options people don’t frequently use. Mobile apps give a mammoth advantage to new social media platforms. We all know that new platforms will arrive and they are going to be a lot better than the social media channels we use today. The future is mobile and there are high chances that the new social media platforms will be designed with smartphones in mind. Mobile-native platforms will be more user-friendly and all our social activities will shift from web browsers to mobile applications.
A Criteria to Find Jobs
The future of social media appears to bring a change in how companies recruit people. Social media will soon become criteria to apply for jobs. Even today, there are companies who want job applicants to fill up their LinkedIn profile details. In some cases, it is not mandatory, but in some, it is a mandatory part of the whole recruitment process.
In the future, this trend will rise and not only LinkedIn, companies would be interested in knowing more about what you do on social media platforms, and your behavior on these platforms will decide if you’re a right fit for the company culture or not.
Social Media Platforms Will Kill Themselves
Social media platforms have given us so much freedom that even a small restriction on how we use them turns out to be annoying. We don’t feel comfortable if our favorite features are removed or modified to put restrictions. With the increasing demand for rules and regulations on social media platforms, there are chances that the future of social media will be dark. It doesn’t necessarily mean that people will stop using social media platforms, but there are chances that after providing so much freedom to users, these social media platforms will be bound to determine how people will use them. Those guided and restricted experiences might turn out to be disastrous for these platforms and people will move on to the channels that offer more freedom and innovative ways to use socialize and share content.
Staff Writer; Corey Shaw
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