It’s only a matter of time before the algorithms that determine what people see in their newsreels will bring about the end of social media platforms. The reason is that people want to be entertained, not bored, by social media platforms. The algorithms, by design, bring information that’s similar to information that people have previously interacted with to their attention.
That’s great in the short term, but after a while, it gets very tedious. For example, unless you’re an ardent Trump supporter, there are only so many Donald Trump speeches you can listen to before realising that he says the same thing every time. “I’m right, they’re wrong. They’re victimising me.” It might win him the presidency in America, but that’s America for you.
A few years ago, the whole world was talking about the novelty that was Donald Trump in politics. Nowadays, the world is turning a deaf ear to the man. That’s the same path the social media platforms are following. People are slowly but surely turning away from social media platforms.
Of course, it won’t be people who bring about the end of social media platforms. It will be businesses. When people stop using social media platforms, the businesses that keep the platforms viable by paying for sponsored posts on the platforms will stop advertising. When that happens, and it will happen sooner than you’d think, it will spark the end of social media platforms as we know them today.
The interesting question is, what’s going to replace social media platforms?
