In the last decade, social media have grown exponentially in numbers. As some shut down, more come online, seeking to divide online users' attention. This fragmentation has raised issues of trust, time and privacy issues that need us as digital marketing professionals to consider as they influence how we will be able to reach the humans behind the screens.

1. Karabo Sitto
LECTURER, DEPARTMENT OF STRATEGIC,
UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG
JOHANNESBURG ~ OCTOBER 30 - 31, 2019
DIGIMARCONAFRICA.COM | #DigiMarConAfrica
DIGIMARCONSOUTHAFRICA.CO.ZA | #DigiMarConSouthAfrica
Social Media Fragmentation
– Finding The Human Touch
KEYNOTE

2. Social media
Returning to the human touch
31 October 2019

3. Background

4. 4
•Digital marketing and communication professional
•Teaching communication and public relations
•Presented at international conferences
•Co-editor and author of Connect: Writing for Online Audiences
•PhD candidate at UJ – research prepared under supervision
of Prof Verwey and NRF funding
Karabo Sitto

5. Social media growth

6. 6
•Ten years ago, let’s think back to what there was…
Facebook
LinkedIn
Twitter
•These were the mainstream social media platforms being used
•Internet was expensive in South Africa
•Employers were debating access to social media at the office
•Connectivity rates were at about 25 – 30% nationally
Rewinding the time machine

7. 7
PhD research

8. 8
•Collected interview data from 11 research participants
•Analysed 8 participants Facebook pages from when they first joined
Facebook
•Analysed their representations of themselves to their personal
connections
•Was looking for changes in identity of self through online posts and
interpersonal interaction
•Some findings with respect to interviews and Facebook analysis
provide insights for us as digital marketers
PhD research

9. 9
•(2010)
•(2006)
•(2007)
•(2008)
•(2007)
•(2009)
•(2007)
•(2008)
PhD research – participants’ joining of Facebook

10. Data findings

11. 11
•The rise of new social media has fragmented audience attention and
interests
•Online audiences’ attention is divided across multiple social media
•However, at the heart of their interactions is the primary human
motivator is to be connected
•The more fragmented social media gets, the less connected people
feel to each other
•This results in less updates by all members of a network, ultimately
diminishing its use e.g. Facebook lost its relevance
Social media fragmentation

12. 12
Human needs from social media
FACEBOOK
RELEVANCE
LOSS
SOCIAL MEDIA
FRAGMENTATION
GROWTH OF
WHATSAPP
MAINTAINING
TIE STRENGTH
FREQUENCY OF
UPDATES
“I’ve grown out of
Facebook as a
platform.”
“…some people don’t
update Facebook
anymore.”
“Facebook a little bit.”
Multiple channels available
for people, and divided
attention online
Frustration with keeping
attention ultimately leading
to less social media
engagement
“WhatsApp wins…”
“WhatsApp just makes it
easier because you create
groups.”
“…WhatsApp is easy and it’s
just quick and even if it’s just
to check in like look, cool
picture.”
“…WhatsApp groups with my
family and my wife’s family, so
I mean sometimes it does feel
that I, you are at home, they
only difference is just physical
disconnection…”
WhatsApp able to
facilitate:
- Daily calls
- Video calling
- Instant messaging
- Being able to see
pictures
- Sharing moments
more intimately
More private updates
able to be frequent
Daily communication to
personal network
members
More private
communication
encourages more
frequent communication

13. 13
Issues for social media users
Trust
ConnectionPrivacy
Tie-strength
The digital marketer's dilemma
1. Users more and more are looking to find spaces to
share their lives with fewer people. This is a
function of trust issues with respect to vulnerability
of information (e.g. data leaks).
2. People interact most honestly online with those
they feel closest to, and even then they still
present their ‘best’ version of themselves.
3. More online users seek privacy, either through
limited accounts, private settings and even paying
for ad blockers on certain applications.
4. People feel that social media has lost the personal
touch, and more and more the messaging is used
for connections, to establish, grow and maintain
them.

14. So now what?

15. 15
•We need to get back to basics about why social media is useful to
people
•Understand the desires and motivations for individuals
•Recognise that the rise of WhatsApp as a social media is insightful:
• People want to share their lives
• They want a private space to do so
• Desire is for frequent communication
•How do we reach people online that desire to be reached less and
less?
The human touch

16. 16
Digital marketing next steps
1
Make sure that we understand the mindset of
who were are talking to, where they are in their
lives and be timely with our engagements with
them.
Be relevant
2
AI tools have been good at helping understand the psyche of
the online audience member, however, people feel stalked
and trust us less. We have not been prudent with their data
and we need to do better to protect information entrusted to
us.
Gain trust
3
Ensure marketing content weaves into the lives of
our audiences to form part of their stories by telling
compelling stories that connect to their lives.
Tell stories
4
Make and develop content that people want others in their
lives to experience. This will encourage them to disseminate
our content, lending credibility and credence to it. Making our
jobs infinitely easier to start conversations or spread them.
Link platforms more easily – interoperability.
Make content sharable

17. DISCUSSION & QUESTIONS