Khoros recently released a new report exploring social media trends for 2023.
The report, titled “How to Disrupt a Disruptive Customer” looks at the various changes taking place in the social landscape, from the rise of multi-sensory content to the introduction of the metaverse.
The report comes at a time when consumers have been exposed to significant disruption as a result of the pandemic, supply issues, and economic distress.
Moving into 2023, Khoros believes brands will need to focus more heavily on cultivating strong customer relationships and engaging their communities. This begins with authenticity and integrity.
The New Standard for Social Media
One of the key trends outlined by Khoros is the emergence of a new “standard” for social media. According to the report, while fake news is still an ongoing issue in the social media world, consumers are beginning to recognise what’s real and what isn’t.
Social media users are looking for more evidence, so they can trust the content they engage with, generating a higher demand for integrity, and authenticity.
Khoros believes gaining the trust of audiences will be particularly important for companies as issues like “deepfakes” become more prevalent – with mentions of deepfakes across social media doubling between January and August in 2022.
Experts in Khoros’ report have given their insights into how businesses will need to adapt.
One such expert, Gabriele Carrieri, Digital Manager at Servier Italia, says as digital security becomes more important to consumers, brands will need to “play their part in keeping awareness high and covering security issues related mostly to their own domain”, while producing content that’s relevant and useful to their users.
Director of YouTube for the Middle East and North Africa, Tarek Amin says the top priority of his company is to protect their community from harmful content, while preserving the power of the open video platform. Therefore, YouTube has started to release quarterly Community Guidelines and enforcement reports, which highlight the number of issues the platform is facing.
The Changing Social Landscape
Co-Founder and CEO of SparkToro, Rand Fishkin notes that in the past, social networks have been incentivized to invest in fake news and deep fakes. He’s concerned that leading networks such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Twitter don’t have enough incentive to protect their customers and ensure they’re accessing credible content.
Alternatively, John Bentwood, the Global Head of Data and Analytics for Golin believes Social Media companies are routinely placed under a lot of pressure. He states:
“They must walk the narrow line between “freedom of speech” and banning clearly false, antagonistic, and dangerous commentary.”
Khoros says companies on social media in 2023 will need to take extra steps to gain the respect and trust of their audience by filtering out dangerous and false content.
Depending on the product, brand mission, and reputation of each business, brands may need to consider:
- Using automated social listening alerts to flag false information and crises in real-time
- Vetting collaborative sources (such as partners and influencers) in the context of ensuring customer security and good experiences.
- Using social listening to understand the concerns audiences have with privacy. If audiences are concerned about specific platforms, businesses may need to consider leaving them to maintain the trust of their consumers.
Interested in learning more insights from the Khoros team? If so, check out our recent roundtable: Exploring Self-Service
