Hey Devs, happy Friday 🦥💚
As always, it's been an eventful week in the tech industry. We've got a lot to talk about! And today I want to discuss...the future of social media 🔮📱
Things are changing in the social media landscape, largely due to the shakeup at Twitter over the past year or so. Here at DEV, we've been exploring the Fediverse while we build our own free and open source online community platform (it's called Forem, check it out!).
So let's talk about what comes next! What do you want the future of social media to look like, and how can we build it together?
Want to submit a question for discussion, or even ask for advice? Visit Sloan's Inbox! You can choose to remain anonymous.
Top comments (12)
Maybe this is idealistic, but I’d like for social mediaI to be a place where people can actually connect with each other and have meaningful conversations instead of just being a bunch of echo chambers. I'd prefer more social media options that encourage folks to engage with different viewpoints and learn from each other rather than encouraging you to surround yourself only with people who agree with you and who will validate your opinions, or that hyper focus on likes and followers. My expectations of social media are the same as my expectations of the company I keep: Be who you say you are. Be real. Be responsible. Give back to your community. Be inclusive. Give a damn.
ActivityPub has all the volume and traction right now, and could be the ideal way forward here. I'm personally enjoying the ability to use services such as Mastodon, Pixelfed and PeerTube, share contents and follows between them, and not worry about commercial intent - the communities I'm part on are really great! Of course, sites and communities like DEV and Forem are key to this as well. Open Source and easy API access are central for me.
Remove 'engagement' algorithms driving ad revenue interests, and you might have some chance of a future for social media.
Money ruins, but unfortunately also fuels everything.
Why does it need to be formalized? Social interaction is randomized and beautiful in its own right. Squeezing all social interaction into one big tube, just to be squeezed out in a unified stream to be consumed just seems wrong to me. We should allow all data shapes and sizes and structure to exist and build adapters when needed. Find the beauty in diversity and embrace it.
Embracing the spontaneity of social interaction is what makes it beautiful. Formalizing it into a unified stream risks losing the unique shapes and sizes of diverse human connections. Instead of squeezing everything into one tube, we should celebrate the beauty of individual interactions, allowing them to flourish organically.
Where listening, debate and benevolence are at the heart of all interactions. Where argued, sourced and constructed content takes precedence over rambling content. Where the community is encouraged to regulate hateful content, to put forward constructive content, etc. In short, a space that serves everyone to become better, to learn and transmit. Idyllic, really? 😅
Interesting question! :) In the future, I’d hope social media can reach a place where people, especially those who come from groups that have been historically been ignored and ostracized, feel heard and protected. How can this be built? The answer to this question is this: innovation and inclusion.
My ideal social media would have a some kind of discord type layout as it won't have as others do, a sent and received screen side. Actually I don't see anything to add to the discord chatting UI.
For the feed, I would appreciate a FYP, but going along with a Discover feature, where we could emancipate ourselves from the Analysis Algorithms. Just pure random stuff.
And why not a dev side where we could easily share code or tips 😎 (which could be obviously a general learning side too)
All of this with easy font typing, and real ephemaral non-savable neither screenable discussion mode.. in an option tha you could turn of, in conversation setting.
He*l why not trying to build that sh*t 😂 ?
Oh yeah. Long and over my skills. And even if I ever could and did, who would come to my app ? 🙄
I also researched the opportunity for a “code-only social media” with the ability to import other codes (the equivalent of repost or quote) but I’m afraid of the code injection stuff.
It is exciting to think about the social network that will emerge in the next few years, thanks to the rise of niche platforms, the use of augmented and virtual reality, and a greater focus on user privacy and data protection. Users are still going to be able to contribute valuable content, and social commerce is going to gain traction. It'll be interesting to watch how these trends influence the future of social media.
I think we need a platform with a web3.0 look and feel. Blockchain technology can even be utilized. For reference, see my work on chainpages.
Verification of identity is crucial for the future of social media. How easy it is to manipulate people by creating identity, is ruiing the fun of it. I hope this will improve someday.