Believe it or not, not everyone in the U.S. is on social media. But it’s getting close.

As of early 2023, more than 295 million Americans use social media. This represents about 90% of the country.

Because social media has become so popular in this country, keeping up with all the latest social media developments can be difficult. There are so many social media trends coming and going at all times. It can make it tricky trying to predict the future of social media.

If you use social media platforms for your business, though, or are just interested in emerging social media trends, you should do your best to stay up on the newest social media developments. See eight things you need to know about social media in 2023 below.

1. AI Will Change Social Media Forever

AI, short for artificial intelligence, has been on the tip of everyone’s tongue over the last few months. The sudden emergence of ChatGPT, in particular, is all anyone wants to discuss.

You shouldn’t expect that to change between now and the end of 2023. AI is easily one of the most significant social media developments of the year.

So many companies are already planning to use AI to provide them with social media prompts. It’s poised to help these companies take their social media efforts to the next level.

2. Facebook and Twitter Will Face Pivotal Moments

Doesn’t it feel like Facebook and Twitter will face significant moments in the coming year? These two social media stalwarts have faced stiff competition from other social media platforms over the last year, and that seems like it’ll continue.

Facebook and Twitter have also experienced gigantic changes that could impact them. David Fischer, a longtime Vice President of Marketing at Facebook, just announced that he’s leaving the company. It may be a big blow to Facebook as the company moves forward.

Over on Twitter, meanwhile, Elon Musk is always keeping things interesting, and it’s hard to tell whether the company is falling apart or transitioning into a bigger, better version of itself. Either way, it will be fun to see how Facebook and Twitter handle the adversity that’s getting thrown in their direction.

3. TikTok Will Continue to Grow (Or Not?!)

TikTok just announced that more than 150 million Americans are using the social media platform as of March 2023. That’s great news, right?

Of course! It shows that the social media platform has grown by leaps and bounds and could grow even bigger.

But just one problem: There has also been some talk about TikTok potentially being banned in the U.S. over security concerns. It remains to be seen if that’ll happen, but TikTok could have its best or worst year ever in 2023.

4. Social Media Will Become a Destination for Online Searches

If you want to look something up online, where do you go to do it? There’s a 99% chance you just said, “Google!”

Google is still the largest search engine in the U.S. by far, which isn’t expected to change anytime soon. But an increasing number of people, specifically younger people, are turning to social media to search for information.

This has been one of the most surprising social media developments in 2023. Social media hasn’t always been considered a beacon of truth. But many people appear to trust it enough to use social media platforms to search for information.

5. Vertical Videos Will Keep On Enjoying Their Moment

TikTok put a lot of the other social media platforms on notice when it started stealing the hearts of Americans with its full-screen vertical videos. It’s led to an uptick in the number of platforms offering these kinds of vertical videos.

Outside of TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook also have vertical videos. If you haven’t done it already, you should take this as a sign that you need to start shooting videos vertically so that you can share them with others in this format.

6. Integrations Will Hit Social Media Hard

For the last few years, there’s been non-stop chatter about the “metaverse.” Companies like Facebook have spent billions of dollars trying to create a metaverse that will usher social media into a new era.

It’s unclear if 2023 will finally be the year when the metaverse breaks through and turns into more than just a fun concept. But with both Facebook and Instagram now getting in on the metaverse action, it should only be a matter of time.

7. Social Media Commerce Will Speed Up Even More

Social media has long been a place for large companies to try to hawk their products to customers. They’re going to keep on doing this in 2023 and beyond.

But there are also a lot of small businesses that should now think about cashing in on the social media commerce craze. It’s never been easier for companies to create shoppable social media posts and to push products on things like Instagram Storefronts.

8. User-Generated Content Will Increase in Importance

Many brands have started relying on user-generated social media content to market their products and services. They’ve begun doing this to bring down their branded content budgets while gaining maximum impact in the marketplace.

Many social media users have also allowed brands to utilize their user-generated content. So you shouldn’t be surprised if you begin seeing more of this content soon.

Keep an Eye Out for These Social Media Developments

In reality, we could probably list 80 more social media developments you’ll need to look out for in 2023. There are just so many of these developments on the horizon.

You should monitor these social media developments and see where they take us. Social media is only going to continue to get bigger from here.

Read more informative articles related to social media by browsing through the rest of our blog.