Social media has become an ingrained part of the lives of nearly everyone in the United States, so it’s no surprise that social media titans like Facebook and Twitter have grown into multi-billion dollar companies. Just as hundreds of millions of users have flocked to these social media sites for their own personal use, businesses have naturally followed, using these social media engines not only to advertise, but to connect directly with their customers in ways that were not possible before. From being better able to isolate their target demographics’ preferences, to communicating directly with customers and fans, businesses have been able to use social media platforms to great effect.

It should therefore be of great interest to both casual users and businesses to know that the landscape of social media is rapidly changing. While overall social media is usage is up 38% according to a Pew Research poll, social media users are exhibiting greater levels of social media fatigue, especially when it comes to the largest and most established social media sites. This news is especially alarming for the reigning king of social media, Facebook. That same Pew Research study reveals that 61% of Facebook users have voluntarily taken a break from using Facebook for several weeks or longer, and that 34% of current users say they intend to use less of the site in the future. In fact, where Facebook once made up 54% of all social media usage, it has now fallen to under 37%, with several notable upstarts there to pick up the slack. Worse still for Facebook is that its latest updates, which include adding hashtags and helping businesses more precisely target their customers, have been received well by corporate sponsors but not as warmly by the typical user.

Instead, social media users continue to flock to other social media sites, including Twitter, Tumblr, and Pinterest. Twitter in particular has shown steady growth, up from 11% of total social media usage to nearly 21%. Not only is Twitter popular with the average user, it is rapidly becoming the go-to social media outlet for companies that prefer to have an open and constant dialogue with their customer base. Similarly, Pinterest and Tumblr each have dedicated followings, with fans finding the levels of customizability in each site endearing. Both Pinterest and Tumblr allow their users to create pages devoted to a single topic, style, or fandom, creating legions of fans that prefer these niche pages.

So, what is it that both social media users and companies can take away from these new statistics? Well, for starters, people are starting to exhibit social media fatigue with traditional methods of social media. Many of the typical posts found on Facebook feeds and Twitter pages are either inane or utterly unimportant to day to day life, and many people would rather not know about every second of their friends’ lives in intimate, excruciating detail. Especially with monolithic social media sites like Facebook, where the average user has 142 friends, what was once an engine that brought people closer has become impersonal. Instead of fostering friendship, many social media sites like Facebook have instead become forums for distant friends and acquaintances to air out their daily concerns or beliefs to a captive audience, and many users have simply had enough.

The newer wave of social media sites, like Pinterest, Tumblr, and Instagram, are all graphically oriented and highly topical, each providing a specific service to the user with a concrete end goal. While at their core their typical pages are no more consequential that what is found on Facebook or Twitter, their specificity gives users something to focus on and rally around. These social media pages draw in people that are already united by a common goal, whether that goal is to see pictures of delicious meals or read blog posts about the latest episode of the BBC’s Sherlock. This changing focus in social media may just be the wind of change that knocks the current rulers of social media off of their pedestals. Sites like Facebook should take note, lest they one day go the way of MySpace.

John Soland is an experienced writer who has written for a number of notable publications. As a lifestyle expert, Mr. Soland is able to offer advice and insight on a multitude of topics, including those pertaining to business news.

John Soland is an experienced writer who has written for a number of notable publications. As a lifestyle expert, Mr. Soland is able to offer advice and insight on a multitude of topics, including those pertaining to business news. http://www.inc.com/profile/laser-spine-institute

Author Bio: John Soland is an experienced writer who has written for a number of notable publications. As a lifestyle expert, Mr. Soland is able to offer advice and insight on a multitude of topics, including those pertaining to business news.

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