The Future of Facebook

People in the tech industry are always on the lookout for the “next big thing.” Actually, that goes for most marketers, business owners, and consumers. In the social media sphere, we’ve seen a remarkable amount of improvement and development in the last decade. Social media channels have become more mobile-friendly and content has become more visual, to name a few. But we could argue that we haven’t seen any genuine disruption on social media in the last few years.

We’ve seen the eruption of the next big thing in fintech — blockchain and Bitcoin, and in transportation in the form of automatic, driverless vehicles.

If social media, specifically Facebook, is of such paramount importance to marketers and consumers, and we’re living in an era where digital disruption is so probable, then surely, we can expect a disruption in social media soon?

As Mark Zuckerberg said, “If we don’t create the thing that kills Facebook, someone else will.”

But these new features simply enhance what already exists, they don’t disrupt it.

Does this mean we’re overdue for a major disruption? Are we on the verge of the next social media innovation? If so, what will it be, and when can we expect it?

Just as it already does in social networking and instant messaging, Facebook aims to dominate the Artificial Intelligence and machine learning fields too.

Facebook has been dabbling in AI for a few years. Since the platform released its facial recognition feature in 2010, it has also been used to curate the newsfeeds of all users.

Since the company tripled its investments in AI and machine learning research early this year, we can only expect bigger and better things still to come.

When Facebook bought Oculus in 2014, the obvious question — besides “Seriously? Two billion dollars?” — was what Facebook expected to do with a virtual reality company. Everyone joked about advertisements popping up in the middle of video games being played, and giant newsfeeds projected on skyscrapers. But Facebook’s new VR app, Spaces, does a whole lot more.

For instance, instead of just looking at photos of a family wedding you missed, you’ll be able to put your headset on and experience the wedding from the front pew. This may have been possible without Facebook, but we don’t doubt that the social giant will help to make it more easily accessible to more people, and that it will soon be ingrained in the mainstream.

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