These areas of focus all point towards Zuckerberg’s hopes to make social media more user-friendly, more harmonious and more accountable – along with a big focus on futuristic tech.
As reported by Social Media Today, Mark Zuckerberg has identified five key areas of Facebook for the coming years. Here they are:
1. Generational Change
According to Zuckerberg:
“When I started Facebook, one of the reasons I cared about giving people a voice was that I thought it would empower my generation“
He claims he’s since realised that it wasn’t just his own generation which felt voiceless – it was every generation. And some social media platforms have actually caused more division than cohesion.
Because of this, he wants to use the platform to provide positive generational change – and provide a way for different generations to come together.
2. A New Private Social Platform
Zuckerberg has highlighted that people are beginning to shift away from public posts and are moving towards two different things instead – private posts along with posts shared within smaller groups.
Where once most Facebook content was public, a lot of its users now use the platform for private interactions, such as private messages. Zuckerberg said:
“For the next decade, some of the most important social infrastructure will help us reconstruct all kinds of smaller communities to give us [a} sense of intimacy again.“
This will provide challenges for marketers. If conversations become more private, traditional outreach techniques will need to be adapted.
3. Decentralising Opportunity
Facebook allows people to build businesses and achieve tasks in unusual and innovative ways. Zuckerberg claims that social media’s ability to aid small businesses helps to level the playing field. This therefore allows opportunity to be decentralised.
And this is something he wants to keep exploring:
“If we can make it so anyone can sell products through a storefront on Instagram, message and support their customers through Messenger, or send money home to another country instantly and at low cost through WhatsApp – that will go a long way towards creating more opportunity around the world.”
Facebook’s explorations into its own cryptocurrency show just how serious they are about this aspect of social media.
4. The Next Computing Platform
Facebook are already investing hugely into AR and VR, which Zuckerberg thinks will be the next grand ruler of computing:
“Instead of having devices that take us away from the people around us, the next platform will help us be more present with each other and will help the technology get out of the way.”
He also claims that this technology won’t just be used for fun – but for job opportunities and more.
5. New Forms of Govenance
For his final point, Zuckerberg again looks towards political campaigning and debate, and societal division. He has called for greater regulation, honesty and integrity – and for a more communal set of rules across all social media platforms.
Facebook has previously looked towards Acts which would implement formal, independent regulation of campaign advertisements.
Social media has developed a reputation for misinformation and misregulation – and such changes would go in long way in fixing that.
These areas of focus all point towards Zuckerberg’s hopes to make social media more user-friendly, more harmonious and more accountable – along with a big focus on futuristic tech.