BY HAYLEY SMITH
Social media surrounds us every day. It is pivotal in the way people maintain friendships, relationships, and even businesses. With social media, there comes trends. But with 2019 here, social media is stepping up its game and is going to be more advanced than ever.
Are Instagram stories better than daily posts?
Instagram is one of the most popular social media apps, reaching 1 billion users in 2018, according to Statista. In the last couple of years, Instagram has been changing the way its app works based on algorithms. Because of these algorithms, people are getting fewer likes, and feel as though their own personal accounts are getting less attention. This caused an uproar in the Instagram world, because for a lot of influencers and businesses, likes are what determines if people are enjoying the content you are posting, and it allows other people to see your page and know you’re successful based on that number. In 2019, this idea of “likes” is going to turn a corner. Instagram is now discovering a new way to introduce social engagement, steering away from likes.
Instagram stories have been active for a couple years but are now exploding. In 2019, Instagram is making all their efforts to completely revolutionize the way stories work by adding new features. Instagram stories stickers is a free and easy way to engage with your followers and customize exactly what your followers want to see in your brand, and content. In 2019, stories are said to become more pivotal than actual posts. With the additional features of countdowns, questions, and polls, Instagram stories are becoming more versatile and a better way to interact with your audience.
Micro-influencers are the new influencers
Instagram’s second trend reveals that it is the year of micro-influencers. According to Snapapp, “Micro-influencers are brand advocates who have a deeply engaged, niche audience. They generally have between 1,000 and 10,000 followers.”
Micro-influencers are being seen as people to trust in 2019. Often, when people of the media gain followers (and in this day in age it’s quite easy to gain thousands of followers) they don’t always share information that they believe is true. With sponsorships and ads, many big influencers are getting paid to tell their audience that a product is great, when they may not think so. According to CNBC, Kylie Jenner makes an estimated $1 million per sponsored Instagram post. With her 112 million followers, many of those are likely to purchase something she sponsors, because they believe Kylie actually uses this product. It is cheaper to sponsor these micro-influencers, and it represents some authenticity. In 2019, it is said to trust micro-influencers because they have not yet been changed by the media. So, step in micro-influencers, where real talk and honesty take place.
It’s all about vertical videos
IGTV, launched in June of 2018, has become a creative aspect to Instagram, especially for people who are very heavily into producing videos. IGTV allows people to upload vertical only videos, making it customized to mobile watching only. People can make videos up to 10 minutes, or 60 minutes if you are verified. For 2019, IGTV wants to begin making their wave in long-term content. With famous chefs creating vertical videos showing recipes, or with beauty brands giving short makeup tutorials, IGTV is paving its path into the video world. With specific categories for every user, including one of the most popular “cats”, more categories are going to continue to grow in 2019 when IGTV becomes more noticed. While YouTube is the go-to platform for long-term video content, many people are believing that IGTV this year will step up its game and take over.
