6 digital marketing and UX finds you need to see — April 2024
The best round-up of digital tools and trends from around the web this spring
1. We’re all social media voyeurs now and nobody’s having fun
Here’s a great (and depressing) read about how much social media has stopped being, well, social. I was just talking about this with a friend and we were reminiscing about the early days of Facebook. Remember when you’d post photos from your weekend and dozens of friends would dutifully comment?
Then came the Facebook like. And the comments dwindled. Then reactions hit the scene and comments dwindled further as people clicked the heart or sad face emoji instead of writing something. And now we can’t even be bothered to do that anymore. The algorithms have made things so much worse, and now we just passively watch each others’ lives from our glowing devices in the dark.
From the article:
It’s somewhat ironic to see tech companies now coming to the realization that people on social media may want to talk to each other. That’s why social media started, after all. … Apps began prioritizing algorithms and discovery and ways of increasing views that de-emphasized direct connection, putting us all in the same place while somehow tearing us further apart.
2. But wait, is Gen Z about to solve the lurker problem with a reboot of MySpace-esque platforms?
Bustle has a fantastic piece about a set of apps being launched by Gen Z developers aimed at bucking the algorithms and returning to good old fashioned “talking to each other”.
It seems that, along with Y2K fashion and point-and-shoot cameras, Gen Zers are also pining for a return to 2000s social media.
Gen Z is the first generation to be raised by the algorithms, so it’s pretty fascinating to see them creating spaces that feel a lot like the early days of social media. They’re eschewing polished profiles for neon-coloured brutalist interfaces, and ditching aspirational lives in favour of posting about their real ones. Or in the words of the article’s author: “There are no subjects and fans, just peers.”
In short, the kids are alright. Read more here.
3. Junior vs. senior designers, illustrated
If you don’t follow Julie Zhuo on Medium, you should. She’s got a great post about the difference that experience makes when it comes to design. The first one in particular is just spot on, and I see it happening every time I connect with our senior designer on projects:
Compared to a junior designer’s process:
4. We really need to stop looking at ourselves so much
It’s kind of crazy how much time we spend staring into our own eyes these days. DazedDigital breaks it down in unsettling detail in this article.
If it ever feels like you’re constantly looking at your own face, that’s because you probably are. Nowadays, we see ourselves on Zoom calls and FaceTime, we make TikToks and watch them back before posting, we take hundreds of selfies before deciding on the “one”, we have BeReal popping up and prompting us to look at ourselves. We’re faced with our reflection in so many instances throughout an average day, it’s no wonder we’re so preoccupied with the way we look.
The article goes on to discuss the real damage being done by this phenomenon, from plummeting body image scores in children to the disappointing dissonance created by the filters we’re using versus looking at ourselves in a plain old mirror. Worth a read.
5. Hootsuite’s 2024 nonprofit social media trends report
Social media for nonprofits is tougher for a lot of reasons. Fewer financial and human resources, tougher subject matter, and less obvious ROI to name a few. Hootsuite’s report tackles these issues and offers some really nice examples of charities and nonprofits getting social right. Read it here.
6. Closing it out as usual with a fantastic tweet
I’ll see you next time with some more digital marketing finds. Go well, friends.
