Segmented Social Profiles: Customization Options for More Engaging Conversations
With the fragmentation of social media usage and the increase in private group sharing, the development of segmented social profiles seems inevitable. Platforms like Instagram and Facebook have already experimented with alternate profiles, allowing users to engage in different communities without disturbing their followers who are interested in different topics. Instagram’s latest experiment, called “Flipside,” offers an enclosed group sharing option for users and their chosen connections.
Twitter also ventured into this territory in 2021 with its “Facets” feature, which allowed users to post under different personas attached to their main profile. This enabled users to assign different topical personas within their profiles, with separate profile images for each. By choosing which persona to post from, users could target their updates to specific audiences, allowing followers to follow only the aspects of their profile that are relevant to them.
These developments aim to address the declining user engagement and original updates on social media platforms. While Facebook activity has increased, users are spending more time watching short-form video clips and sharing fewer personal updates. This shift towards entertainment and passive consumption poses a challenge for social apps to maintain user engagement and prevent churn. Alternative profiles, enclosed group sharing options, and more customization features can help facilitate more sharing, ultimately enhancing the network value of these platforms.
For marketers, these changes bring new considerations for reaching the right audience. Currently, short-form video is the dominant medium for maximizing reach. However, the emergence of more siloed, enclosed groups complicates message delivery, requiring new strategies to engage with these audiences. Features like Facets align well with this trend, as more specific and topical sharing offers opportunities for targeted advertising. As social platforms continue to innovate and simplify topical sharing, new forms of connection and community can emerge within these apps.
Overall, segmented social profiles and customization options offer a way for users to engage in different conversations without overwhelming or alienating their followers. These developments also require marketers to adapt their strategies to reach specific audiences within these segmented communities. As social media evolves, platforms need to find ways to incentivize more sharing and create compelling user experiences to retain their users.