New Social Media Platforms…If you’re not first, you’re last?

4 min readDec 5, 2020

Week 14 — Content Post
Should a brand jump on a new social media platform, or should they wait until it’s been proven successful? Pick one new social platform that became popular in the past year and describe if you think it will or won’t stick around.

LET’S FIGURE IT OUT TOGETHER

The development of a new social media platform is exciting but more frustrating than anything! Just one more thing in the technological world of today that we need to figure out to stay relevant. It is even worse for organizations trying to find the best place to promote their brands. They could go for the big names or the up and coming platforms that have the specific niche they are looking for; it just all depends on where their audience is. Now should a brand jump on a social media platform right away or wait until it is proven successful? Well, that is a loaded question, and each variable depends on the brand itself. Most marketers get tempted by new social media platforms by thinking, if you are not first, then you are last, but is this the case?

Choosing what social media platforms to use to represent your brand takes lots of research and consideration. While I think it is a good idea to understand the new and upcoming networks if your brand decides, it is a good fit. Although I don’t think you should jump on just because it is a new platform. As stated above, every brand has a different audience and goals. That is what should dictate the platforms the organization should join: what will benefit the organization and its growth? The platform does not even need to be extremely successful to make an impact for your brand. If your target audience frequents the site, it fits your culture, and helps achieve the brand goals; then the new platform is a green light, go.

If the social media platform is new to the scene, up incoming, or just widely popular at this moment, ask yourself these questions to determine if it is the right fit for your brand.

Is your audience on the platform?
Do you have the time and resources?
Does the platform fit in with your culture?
Will it diminish your message?
Will it help you achieve your brand goals and continued growth?
What are others doing that makes them successful? Are you able to create similarly?

There is a lot to consider in the world of social media and how a brand fits. So, should a brand jump on a new social media platform, or should they wait until it has been proven successful? My answer is that it depends on the brand, not the social media channel. If the platform is reaching your audience and helping the brand reach its goals, but it fails, it still meets the intended goals while the network had its 15 seconds of fame. While it is critical to wait for the outcome of the platform you should never slump on your consumer; if you can reach them, then do it! Even though I may not suggest jumping on a new social media channel right away (without the proper research, of course). I do think it is a good idea to learn and understand the new networks. This is a good tool for understanding what is required to create and post content, understanding the functions, and how the algorithms work.

TIKTOK — LIFESPAN?

I do not think TikTok will stick around. I understand that today’s generation is fascinated by all things video, and it is adaptable to other social media platforms, but this has been seen before with the app called Vine.

TikTok is such a big trend at this time, but all trends come to an end at some point. I understand that video trends are on the climb, and TikTok is all the rage, but it is only useful for video content. It is not like Facebook and Instagram, which are always improving to follow the newest trends, but also have multiple layers of communication that the masses want. TikTok, on the other hand, can only follow the quick video platform trend, and there have been several video platforms that are similar over the years. Like all of these platforms, TikTok will run its course and eventually die off just as musical.ly replaced vine, and TikTok replaced musical.ly eventually, another new app will replace TikTok.

See, the thing is people change, trends change, and if the platforms cannot keep up with the consistent changes, then they will ultimately fail. Until TikTok can figure out a way to be more versatile and provide a relevant extension to short videos, they will come and go just like the rest.