Since the first recognisable social media site, Six Degrees was created in 1997, there have been thousands of networks aiming to connect people. From the Titans like Facebook and Instagram to fleeting stars like MySpace and Vine, every day new social sites and apps appear with the intent to be essential to our everyday lives. With newer platforms such as Snapchat continuing to change the face of marketing in 2017, we turn our attention to looking at the next generation of apps looking to be the next big thing in 2018.
AIRTIME
The brainchild of Sean Parker, co-creator of Napster (and A.K.A. the guy Justin Timberlake played in the social network), Airtime has put a new spin on group chats, the app lets you create a room, with up to 5 friends, and then drop in any kind of media such as gifs, YouTube video, Spotify streams et. to experience it collectively with the group. The app recently re-launched on mobile making it a viable competitor to Snapchat and Periscope.
Get streaming: https://www.airtime.com/
WANELO
This network is a shopaholics dream. It’s similar to Pinterest in terms of functionality, but you can buy products directly from the site. It’s a combo of the big brands people know and love mixed with tiny independent boutiques and sellers you’ve never heard of. It currently has 550,000 retailers on the site, and with Instagram and Pinterest vying to become e-commerce platforms. Wanelo is in a good position.
Discover the channel here: https://wanelo.com/
TUURNT
2017 is set to continue to see video consumption rise, which puts Tuurnt in a good position. Users have 24 hours to participate in a video with one reply each. In this way, you create a video sequence with your friends and family members in a unique way, encouraging participation and socialisation where you can contribute beyond leaving a comment or liking a picture or a video.
Join the party: http://tuurnt.com/
REX
Rex is an app which really harnesses word-of-mouth marketing, in order to “be the easiest way to connect with friends to share your favouritemovies, music, books, TV shows, videos, restaurants, bars, travel destinations, and anything else you like.” You can read and share recommendations with your network, save recommendations, look at what’s trending in your network, look at recommendations on a map view, and much more.
Learn more here: https://www.rex.is/home
With 2018 poised to be another huge year for social, we have to ask which one of these networks if any will make it big? Which ones will get bought out by Facebook? (as Mark Zuckerberg buys everything) And which ones will join the desolate wasteland of failed social apps? Only time can tell…