That Was So 2016
Six months ago, Twitter called the purchase of Vine one of its “foundational acquisitions.”
Flash forward to October 2016, and Twitter shuts down Vine. How can things change so quickly for an app that gained huge fame in 2013 with people who loved its short video format? The Wall Street Journal explains that Twitter failed to capitalize on Vine’s popularity, and over time the site lost out to competitors Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram.
In another move that illustrates the current competitive nature of the social media space, Facebook recently announced it was testing a feature that would let page administrators create job postings and receive applications from candidates – functionality that is very similar to business-oriented LinkedIn.
Right now, LinkedIn makes most of its money from job hunters and recruiters who pay a monthly fee to post resumes and connect with people on this social network. How can Facebook get into this space? The company says “based on behavior we’ve seen on Facebook, where many small businesses post about their job openings on their Page, we’re running a test for Page admins to create job postings and receive applications from candidates.”
What happens to LinkedIn if Facebook becomes savvy in their territory? Time will tell how this will shake out.
Looking Forward: Existing Players in a New Game?
According to Fortune, “Facebook increased its revenue by 56% over the same period last year, increased its net income and earnings per share by 166% and 165%, respectively, and increased its monthly active users by 16% to 1.8 billion. The company reported enviable operating margins of 45%.” Yet, even with these impressive numbers, trading shares were recently down. Why?
There is potential worry in the industry that Facebook won’t be able to maintain its huge revenue growth and profits for much longer, especially as costs continue to rise. Facebook also says it has maxed out on its “ad load” (ads shown to each user), and it’s running out of potential new users on its main app (the “big blue” Facebook app). Finally, Facebook’s lead in the mobile advertising market could shrink as other huge players like Google catch up.
Snapchat is on the scene in a big way in this upcoming year. This app had 120,000 users in 2013. Now it’s at 150 million daily active users, and it is valued at around $20 billion. Snapchat recently rebranded to Snap Inc., and the company is reportedly eyeing an initial public offering next year. The company is also planning to expand its portfolio of advertising offerings in which eMarketer predicts ad revenue will grow to almost $1 billion in 2017.
By all accounts, Twitter and Instagram are also very much in the game and ready to continue to grab their share of the market and consumer’s attention and dollars. Who will join them next year? Will we see new players? Or will the game change completely with these existing heavy hitters?
The only thing we know for sure is the social media space will continue to change in ways that we don’t even know are possible yet. As 2017 comes to greet us, we are all watching.
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References:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/twitters-vine-shutdown-shows-split-between-apps-popularity-profits-1477607776
http://fortune.com/2016/11/07/facebook-linkedin-job-postings-recruiting
http://fortune.com/2016/11/02/facebook-earnings-investors-growth
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/08/snapchat-ipo-facebook-twitter-markets-investors-web-summit.html