So 2016 is about to end in a few days, and it’s been quite an eventful year! With unlikely candidates winning elections, to sudden disruptions in an entire nation’s financial transactions, a lot has happened. There have been major changes affecting nearly every aspect of our lives. And when you’re talking about things that are a vital part of modern existence, how can we ignore social media? That’s true, we can’t! So let’s take a look at the hits and misses of social media in 2016.
Social Media Hits of 2016
3. Facebook Live Video
Facebook still appears to be the most popular social media platform across the world, and its live video feature was very well received this year. The feature was used by everyone, from celebrities to small businesses, and offered a great way to interact with one’s audience in real time.
2. Instagram Stories
Apparently, Instagram had over 20 new feature releases in 2016, making the platform more appealing to businesses as well as giving it the juice to stand up to Snapchat. More users seem to be drawn to Instagram’s story feature, preferring it over Snapchat. With celebrities stories’ being immensely popular, Instagram has also donned the holiday mantle by introducing custom stickers and filters for the season.
1. Facebook Reactions
Probably the most used new trend of 2016 is the Facebook reaction. For a long time, users lamented about the absence of a ‘dislike’ button on Facebook – and Facebook responded, with a full list of reactions. Besides the monotonous ‘like’, Facebook users can now express anger, love, sadness, amazement and more!
Social Media Misses of 2016
3. Hacks
The Guardian has gone so far as to call 2016 ‘the year of the hack’. From numerous celebrity accounts being hacked to big businesses to even the American presidential election, hacking was omnipresent. The biggest instance was probably what happened with Yahoo, with more than a billion accounts being compromised. The latest to be hit seems to be Netflix’s Twitter profile, increasing worries about cyber safety.
2. Chatbots
Listing chatbots among the misses of 2016 may seem controversial, considering how popular they are. Chatbots became big in 2016 when Facebook announced that chatbots would appear in their messenger. Several other companies followed suit, but there have also been rising complaints about the impersonal nature of Artificial Intelligence in customer service. One example was when Microsoft’s chatbot went rogue and began singing the praises of Hitler.
1. Facebook Fake News
One of the most talked about social media fails of 2016 is the one related to the propagation of fake news on Facebook and Google. There were several instances of false news events involving various nations, that were perceived to be true and received global coverage, only to be proved false later. The problem got so bad that Facebook announced fake news filters and Google introduced policy changes.
So what do you think about these hits and misses? Which one of these influenced you the most in 2016?
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