Goodbye Feeds, Hello Communities: The Future of Online Engagement
The impact social media has had on marketing and mass communications has been immense—and it can’t stop, won’t stop changing. Just as we all integrated social media into our lives, new platforms and ways of using social media are taking over.
The biggest change? The internet is moving away from centralized, town square-style spaces to niche, closed communities on platforms that curate spaces around specific subjects and content creators. Younger audiences in particular are losing interest in many of the legacy social media platforms that we thought would always matter, with only around 30% reporting recent usage of Facebook and X. Instead, they’re gravitating to specific content creators on YouTube or podcasts, or to newer platforms like Discord, Patreon, and Substack, which have all seen massive growth since 2020:
Discord doubled its monthly active users to over 200 million, with 74% of those users being aged 16-34.
Substack now has over five million paid subscribers and 50 million monthly visitors as of this year.
Patreon has grown to over eight million active patrons.
Modern audiences are looking for community and belonging in a way that these more intimate or personalized online experiences provide. If that’s where your audience is, you need to strive for authentic ways to engage with them by navigating these spaces. This can be done through careful use of partnerships with influencers and content creators and through fine-tuned messaging that establishes an authentic presence for your brand on these newer platforms.
As communicators and marketers, we need to stay aware and stay nimble to make sure we know where our audience’s eyes and ears are and how to most effectively earn their attention. The digital landscape isn’t going to stop changing, and if you aren’t adjusting your communications plan to keep up with your audience, you’ll lose them. Now’s the time to start thinking about it if you aren’t already.
When things change, turn to a change agency. If you’re looking for experts in marketing strategy, content creation, or social media, reach out to LMD.
