6 Social Media Predictions for 2023

Social media is constantly evolving, and it can often be hard to keep up with all of the current trends. 2022 saw many changes in social media—from the rise of BeReal to the chaos surrounding Twitter. To help you stay current online, here are some of the top social media predictions for what you may see in 2023.

1. There Will Be a Continued Push for the Metaverse

Meta, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, introduced its plans for the metaverse in 2022. Meta will likely introduce more features into the Facebook app to get people excited about the metaverse, which has not gained much popularity in 2022. These features already include creating avatars on Facebook and augmented reality experiences available through filters.

There will likely also be a continuation of the intense marketing from Meta for the metaverse, although it is hard to say whether it will work or not. This may include different brands and advertisers joining the new platform or influencers joining to check out the hype.

We saw the launch of the Instagram Shop Tab in 2020 which signaled the continued direction of social media toward being another effective form of advertising and sales. It is likely that this turn towards e-commerce directly on social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat will grow even stronger in 2023, according to a survey by Hootsuite.

Predictors also say that livestream shopping in particular will be perfected and possibly become mainstream in 2023, according to Social Media Today. Livestream shopping consists of brands or influencers live-streaming things like unboxings or shopping hauls to show their fans who will be able to buy the products directly in the stream.

3. User-Generated Content and Influencer Marketing Will Grow

Influencer marketing is the idea of having people with large followings on social media sell products to their fans through sponsored posts and ads. This has been a popular trend since before 2022, and it will likely grow even bigger in 2023. User-generated content, like the type of content influencers create, is more relatable and more likely to lead consumers to make purchases, according to PR Daily. This means that brands can have more effective advertising through influencers than through traditional ads on social media.

Hundreds of influencers have popped up in 2022, especially on platforms like TikTok, and have found sponsored posts to be their main form of income for producing their content. Influencer marketing can be done through photos, videos, and even livestreams.

With influencer marketing soaring, make sure you are careful about trusting recommendations for products that you see on social media. You may not even realize that a post from an influencer is a paid advertisement. Many reviews and recommendations may also just be paid advertisements. For example, there are many ways to spot fake reviews on Amazon.

4. More Video Content for All

You have probably noticed the push for video content across the internet. From TikTok extending the maximum length of videos in 2022 to Instagram introducing Reels, video is everywhere.

Video is not just a trend though; it is here to stay. Video content, especially in short-form (a few seconds or minutes), seems to keep users the most engaged, so platforms will keep pushing it onto your feed even more in 2023, according to PR Daily. In late 2022, Elon Musk even tweeted that he may bring back Vine, a now-defunct video social media platform that Twitter bought in 2012 at the height of its popularity. This is another video push we may see in 2023.

5. Users Will Want More Authentic Content

With the rise of BeReal and TikTok Now in 2022, it is clear that users want to see more authentic content on social media. These features largely became popular because of their in-the-moment nature where there is no time to fix one’s makeup or retouch photos.

Professional and photoshopped content is no longer meaningful to everyday users, so expect to see more authentic and less polished content from your favorite brands, celebrities, and influencers in 2023. This means more blurry iPhone photos that express a feeling and fewer professional shots that look like a commercial.

The Instagram Photo Dump phenomenon also speaks to this demand for this genuine everyday content that users find more trustworthy when scrolling online.

6. Twitter WIll Keep Changing

Twitter has been chaotic, to say the least, since Elon Musk bought the platform in 2022. The platform will likely take a “trial and error” approach for its new features, trying out different methods to get more users engaged and seeing what works. This also means we are likely to see a few failed attempts.

Will this mean a heavier push to get people to subscribe to Twitter Blue? Or possibly more changes to the famous blue verification tick? Bringing Vine back? It is hard to say what direction Twitter will go in, with pretty unpredictable things happening to it in the last months of 2022, but it will definitely be a place of change in 2023.

Social media is one of the most ever-changing landscapes in our world today, and there are sure to be more transformations than just these predictions. Maybe there will be new popular platforms or features that no one will see coming, or changes that will make your favorite platforms even better.

Whatever happens, there is no doubt that social media will continue to be exciting and fun for millions of users worldwide.