Owen Barder

Have +any+ social media platforms managed to recruit new generations of users, after the first generation? It seems that each new generation starts its own new community, rather than joining an existing platform.

Perhaps YouTube is an exception if we call that a social media platform (but maybe Tik Tok is replacing it)? Are there any others?

Nov 9, 2022 at 11:42amWeb
Show threadThiemo FetzerNov 9, 2022
@owen this is a super interesting hypothesis!
Show threadArnfinn PettersenNov 9, 2022
@owen My kids more or less live on YouTube.
Show threadAndy McGuire 🐕Nov 9, 2022

@owen it depends how generous we are being with the term social media.

There are a lot of older generation people now on WhatsApp for example that were not on any form of Social Media before the pandemic.

Show threadtisbruceNov 9, 2022

@asjmcguire @owen But the older generation showing up is one of the primary thing driving newer generations away. Happened to Facebook.

I don't think any social media platform can fight human nature. The young don't want to be in the same place as their elders, doing the same things. Same thing that shifted English drinking habits from ale to lager to "real ale" to craft beers and so on forever.

Show threadSam Sneddon 🏳️‍⚧️Nov 9, 2022
@owen the MySpace/Bebo generation mostly all migrated to Facebook, as Facebook opened itself up to non-college-students?
Show threadLilian EdwardsNov 9, 2022
@owen rly good question. WhatsApp in a way has recruited all generations, but at once, not consecutively.. kids dont want to be on same pkayform as their parents 😉
Show threadI read the news today, oh boyNov 9, 2022
@owen I'd say most of them. e.g. Facebook (students -> grandparents, vendors), Discord (gamers -> general); all seem to acquire "Brands" at some point
Show threadchuffnellNov 9, 2022
@owen Indeed, adoption moves up not down the generations. Each new social media platforms is next adopted by an older generation than its pioneers, and shunned by their children.
Show threadSecretbatcaveNov 9, 2022

@owen friends reunited had a brief expansion after they stopped charging and before MySpace really took hold.

Before it was people aged > 40 after it dropped to new school leavers.

Show threadDustin BentonNov 9, 2022

@owen Best example I can think of is not retention by a platform, but ownership of a new platform by an existing brand: Facebook bought Instagram to capture a new platform with younger users. Ditto WhatsApp.

M&A seems to be the way big internet companies retain salience - feels like a 20th century strategy but one that appears to work!

Show threadSamNov 9, 2022
@owen It seems to me that the term "social media" is too broad and covers totally different functions. Facebook used to be friends and family, but started doint news and politics, and finally funny movies too. Success is when they do this function well. Losing next generation when they want to be everything to everyone. If you start now communicating with friends, whatsapp or signal are the way to go, facebook is just not good at it anymore. Tiktok is more fun to watch than Youtube.
Show threadOrjanNov 9, 2022
@owen If the definition of social media is that it's one centered on following individuals rather than subjects (like usenet newsgroups or web forums), then YouTube should count.
Tumblr got a large influx of refugees from LiveJournal when LJ moved to Russia in 2009, and has been welcoming some of the Twitter exodus (Ryan Reynolds recently joined, for instance).
The current growth of Mastodon is definitely not first-generation users.
Show threadDaveNov 9, 2022
@owen Facebook established itself as a platform for college kids before it opened up to everyone, but I think you're asking about expanding into _younger_ cohorts?
Show threadLiz SladeNov 9, 2022
@owen I've been thinking about this re other communities - in my case Unitarian churches. There is a sense of the value of longevity, and people value intergenerational relationships, but there's something special about creating a space for your own peers
Show threadProgGrrlNov 9, 2022

@owen I do see a similarity here to when I first got onto young Twitter (15!!!!) years ago… I spent a lot of time at the beginning adding folks I followed on FB, YT, on RSS feeds, misc web sites, writers for certain publications.

But this sea change off a US corporate social channel to an actual open source app is… exciting!

Show threadTom BowkerNov 9, 2022
@owen Facebook acquired an older generation. But you probably mean has any social media managed to be adopted by the generation coming after its first user base. To which I say: good question!
Show threadRichard GadsdenNov 9, 2022

@owen Facebook recruited students and then their second generation of users was those students' parents. No third generation there.

IRC still gets new young nerds.

LinkedIn, arguably.

Show threadwillperrinNov 9, 2022

@owen Reddit has been around a while now and the content has radically changed from its early days and I think new users with it. LinkedIn (a huge network often under estimated) continues to provide a service and grow.

https://i.imgur.com/K2WE0I3.jpg

Show threadJude PottsNov 9, 2022
@owen Maybe it will be like music and fashion. In ten years time maybe having a facebook account will be cool, like wearing 90s fashion?
Show threadJeff SonsteinNov 9, 2022
@owen consider USENET history, which went through several generations of distinctly different users (yes, I am an olde farte who had to maintain an NNTP node in LaLaLand in the 80s using friggin’ telephones… but that is another story) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet
Usenet - Wikipedia

Show threadMichaelNov 9, 2022

@owen
What qualifies a social network? If TikTok, then surely YouTube. If WhatsApp then surely Apple Messages where my kids group chat with their friends (avoid the dreaded green bubble!). If Facebook then surely LinkedIn. etc.

Each of those (YouTube, Messages, LinkedIn) continues to recruit young people.

Show threadPermagricultureNov 9, 2022
@owen And yet email persists.
Show threadJamesNov 9, 2022
@owen arguable that Usenet really survived about 25 years, admittedly with a much smaller user base. When I was on uk.gay-lesbian-bi it was fun when a new batch of Uni students discovered it every year!
Show threadCathyJNov 15, 2022
@owen very good point and thought provoking thread 👌