This is a fascinating article on what may be coming for bloggers and anyone who distributes any kind of news on social media. Now, obviously with any prediction it is just that: a prediction. It may be right or it may be wrong. But this article isn’t sensationalist; it is fair and logical.
I haven’t had a chance to read all the associated research into this, particularly the lack of time (7 mins per day!) spent in a mobile web browser as opposed to apps. That’s not much time at all.
The most interesting part is the discussion around making your content visible on social media – there’s an argument there that you publish onto a social media channel and the social media channel ‘provides’ the eyeballs – because that’s where the people go to primarily. Now, while I agree with being where your audience is, I just don’t agree with primary production of content on social media.
Social Media Vs Blog: The Future
The age-old (well, old in social media terms) argument still applies in my view: you don’t own and have less control over your content on social media. It could shut down at any time. It could remove that fantastic post. Your followers could be deleted.
It’s the same reason that I don’t hold much trust towards Facebook; constant change is unreliable in ensuring a return on investment. I could work hard to get likes, and then Facebook doesn’t want to show my posts to anyone. I’m not anti-change, I’ve just never felt that the balance of innovation and stability has been done well on Facebook.
So how should you balance this need for content to be accessible on social media vs a reasonable need to have control over and own your content?
Honestly, that will be an ongoing (and huge) question. I think at the moment the answer lies in visual content and repurposing across blogs and social media accounts. You will need a strong strategy to make sure that not only are you in the same place as your audience, but that you are sharing your content in ways that they can access it from where they are.
Where to from here? There’s no need to panic and try to be everywhere at once. Content strategy is a big topic, but always remember to start from your blog and one social media platform and grow from there!
How do you feel about organic and paid distribution of content on social media? What do you think it means for bloggers?
