10 Media Trends for 2023
What media trends can we expect in 2023?
The mediaworld is ever-changing. Luckily Ezra Eeman came to help us prepare for this year with a presentation of the media trends we can expect in 2023. Ezra is part of the Future Media Hubs advisory board and is currently Change Director at Mediahuis.
Let’s take a look at the 10 media trends we can expect this year:
1. Crises & Anxiety
Humanity currently faces many crises. An economical crisis, socio-political, ecological and individual crisis. After the successful media years because of covid, this hits hard. People are cancelling their subscriptions because of the rising cost of living and with resources being scarce there is less paper press because of rising paper prices. People are also questioning the reliability of the media,… 67% of people even worry that journalists and reporters purposely mislead them or exaggerate facts. All these crises fuel Gen Z in being the most anxious generation to date, they are going more to platforms like TikTok for mental health resources rather than traditional healthcare.
2. Mobile first
We now have the first truly mobile & social generation and they are defining media because of their rapidly declining interest in traditional media. All the while social media is targeting the full potential of the smartphone (location tags, stickers,...) and young people are getting their news more through social media and less through news applications. But we also see that people are moving away from some of the big well-known social media apps. These apps are associated with clickbait, likes and a lack of privacy. Instead, more direct, private and community based apps such as Twitch and BeReal are gaining popularity. Young people still want to be part of a community, they want to be enabled, on social media and platforms are using this to create and offer subscription models to these communities.
3. Effortless interfaces
Platforms are more and more focussing on making effortless interfaces. Instead of using user control they now use algorithmic selection. This way they get more control and attention from the user. The user is not following the content anymore, it’s the other way around. 67% of Gen Z even agree that content that’s adapted to them is more important than consuming the content that other people talk about.
This battle for control and attention from the user results in 16% of US teens being locked in TikTok and 19% of teens visiting YouTube constantly.
TikTok is booming, and that has not gone unnoticed. Platforms are copying each others technology, it’s the big Tik-Tokification of social media platforms. Instagram reels and YouTube shorts are a great example of that. Since every platform now looks alike, apps like BeReal and Discord are a breath of fresh air.
4. The age of the ear
Even though audio is a very flexible way to reach people, there is a noticeable decrease of podcasts being launched. When looking at the target group of most podcasts (young, connected media users) we see that there is still a huge group missing. 53% of people questioned in France don't even know what a podcast is! 81% of those who do listen believe that podcasts relieve, or help, cope with daily stress. Many listeners also believe that podcasts are much more trustworthy and tolerated than traditional social media platforms. They mostly listen to it on YouTube instead of Spotify. That once again proves how important video is, even when listening to a podcast.
Audio is of course much more than just podcasts. Text to speech and speech to text are being used more. For example: AI-driven tools make it possible for articles to be turned into short audio clips and being stitched back together seamlessly. If we go back to podcasts we see that they are more easily searchable and findable because they are able to provide rich metadata. Finally, these new audio technologies are even ending language barriers for good as they make live translation .
5. Decentralised media
You don’t need to be a professional media company anymore to produce content on social media. Platforms have given individual content makers an equal opportunity. That’s because they know that they need to facilitate the talent to attract people to their platforms. Although this change creates opportunities for individual content creators, analysis shows that the content creators that stand out are not individual anymore, but that they have turned into fully fledged media companies themselves. MrBeast is a great example of this. On YouTube, less than 1% of all channels have more than 100.000 followers.
The way these content creators work changed due to web3. In web2 creators made free content to grow an audience, later on they could start to monetise. In web3 creators start with monetisation using token incentives, that stimulates audience growth. Some traditional media companies like Forbes are trying out a strategy using web3 that includes NFT’s, dedicated coverage, digital asset tracking,...
6. Enter the Betaverse
Companies like Meta and some early believers think that media will evolve into a lifelike, always on and immersive form. Although it is very complex, technology expert Matthew Ball thinks that a lot of elements making up the Metaverse are already there, it’s just not combined and connected yet.
In the metaverse and the virtual world avatars are a big thing. 47% of Gen Z consumers feel that having an avatar helps to express them. This can have a big impact on their self-confidence.
Of course brands are also experimenting with the Metaverse and how they can fit in and reach people there, wrangler hosted a talk about fashion in the metaverse for example. Still, the metaverse remains a place full of unanswered questions. What will it evolve into? Who will have control or access? Who will be able to monetise it?
7. Automated & Generated
More than 75% of news executives believe that AI is critical for the success of their business in the future. It will automate, augment and transform content. AI could finally help decouple the creation of digital news from print creation or the creative AI tools can be used to generate stories, images, videos, songs, …
Because of all these new technologies the bar will be raised for creative talent and some positions within companies will be put under pressure. With flawless AI creations, seeing is no longer believing. It will be a challenge in the future to prove what is real, rather than proving what is false.
8. Unbundling - Rebundling
The traditional bundle is falling apart because the internet is so fragmented. The universe of these online cultures is so vast and fragmented that it’s impossible to keep track. Content is not connected to linear broadcasts anymore, it can and often is being distributed separately. On the other side, we see opportunities to bundle multiple services together on one device because the user doesn’t want any friction. This could mean having an overview of Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+ and other subscriptions all together on one device. Other than that, brands are coming up with extra proposals for the loyal users called ‘superuser’ since these people are willing to spend money or their time and attention.
9. The cost of privacy
The majority of people are concerned about the capturing and storing of their personal data when being online, but barely anyone is actually acting on these concerns by taking privacy measures. Forward thinking companies are acting on this and offer their users greater control over their data like Apple and BBC But it makes advertising harder, Meta predicted in early 2022 that this decision will cost them over $10 billion in sales revenue. Contextual targeting is as old as modern advertising itself but it is back in the picture since Google announced to deprecate third-party cookies.
10. Digital Seniors
Older people are a major market, Baby Boomers are reaching retirement and they are a market with time and money to spend and with knowledge of information technology. But all this technology is often overwhelming and frustrating for this generation, with computers and smartphones taking the lead. Designers will need to adapt their platform to older people. Like making text bigger and buttons clearer. Age before beauty! Perhaps the greatest need of the elderly is to break through loneliness. A growing group of seniors are spending time alone. Startups like Hank and GetSetup alleviate loneliness through interest-based classes and community gatherings.
Do you want to find out more about these 10 trends? You can read the full report here.
