Social Media Is Dying: The Pollution of Social Networks by Advertising.

Kim, who has been an active user of social media since her university days, has recently felt her interest in social media waning. Despite being a member of Facebook for over 12 years, she has neglected the platform in recent years. She explains her reasons, saying, "During my college days, it was fine to post any pictures, but at some point, I felt the pressure to post pictures of myself dining at upscale restaurants or wearing luxury clothing, which made me distant from the platform."

 

These changes in the present and future of social media have an impact on how we use social media and how we communicate in our daily lives.

 

Kim's story is just one example of the worldwide decline in the popularity of social media. While social media platforms saw rapid increases in the number of users every year due to the development of smartphones and IT technology, a change began in the 2020s. According to data analysis firm Demand Sage, the number of global social media users, which had been increasing by 400 to 500 million each year until the late 2010s, dropped to the 300 million range in the 2020s, with predictions indicating it will further decrease to the 200 million range. Economic media outlets like Business Insider are assessing that "social media is slowly dying."

 

One of the contributing factors to this decline in social media popularity is the excessive exposure of content related to celebrities. In the case of South Korea, content from famous individuals and influencers like football player Son Heung-min and girl group BLACKPINK is excessively prevalent, pushing aside everyday content. This phenomenon is primarily due to social media companies promoting content recommended by algorithms.

 

For example, Instagram, since its launch in 2010, initially displayed content in chronological order for the first six years. However, from 2016 onwards, content began to be displayed according to the algorithm's recommendations. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri explained this change, saying, "Arranging content chronologically would cause users to miss out on 70% of content due to the overwhelming volume," hence the shift towards algorithm-based content ranking. Other social media platforms like Facebook and TikTok have adopted similar approaches.

 

As resistance to this algorithm-based content placement grows, the rate of growth in social media users is declining. For instance, Instagram saw an increase of 135 million users between the third and fourth quarters of 2021, but in the past year, the growth was limited to only 15 million users in the same period. Facebook, which had been gaining more than 200 million new users annually until the mid-2010s, has only seen an increase of 70 million users this year.

 

Presently, even among social media users, there is a trend toward passive use, such as sharing photos only with friends or acquaintances and communicating through messaging apps. Instagram CEO Mosseri also noted that "users are shifting from sharing photos to direct messages, private communities, and group chats."

 

Excessive exposure to advertisements is also considered a significant cause of discontent with social media. With the growing influence of social media, businesses have invested substantial amounts in advertising. For instance, Facebook's ad revenue increased from $39.9 billion in 2017 to $115.6 billion in 2021. Similarly, Twitter's ad revenue increased by 40% from $3.2 billion in 2020 to $4.5 billion in 2021. According to a survey by online research firm SurveyMonkey of 1,200 Americans, 74% of respondents said, "There are too many ads on social media."

 

Furthermore, there is analysis suggesting that people are leaving social media due to content related to political conflicts. Particularly in the United States, during the presidential campaigns of former President Trump and current President Biden, there was an abundance of content involving insults and political propaganda, and South Korea is showing a similar trend.

 

As a result, new social media platforms that exclude algorithms and adopt different approaches are trying to enter the market. For example, 'Mastodon,' developed by a German engineer, is a platform similar to Twitter but does not use algorithms. Additionally, the French social media platform 'Bereal' sends notifications to users at unspecified times, requiring them to take and upload a photo within 2 minutes. Due to these changes, even smaller social media platforms are experiencing a decline, and social media users are paradoxically showing a preference for authenticity while also avoiding algorithm-driven content exposure.

 

These changes in the present and future of social media have an impact on how we use social media and how we communicate in our daily lives. Social media platforms are seriously contemplating strategies considering these trends, and users need to reassess how they use social media.