The major social media platforms are inevitably losing their grip on users - and marketers - and niche networks are growing. Presentation to the 2019 Social Media Landscape Conference, Johannesburg & Cape Town, September 2019.

1. Marketing Mix Social Media Landscape Briefing
The Fragmentation of Social Media
(a slightly Marxian perspective)
Godfrey Parkin
Britefire
@gparkin

2. Social media is the sigh of the oppressed
creature, the heart of a heartless world, and
the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium
of the people.
With apologies to Marx (and religion)
@gparkin

3. ALGORITHMS
ENGAGEMENT
SURVEILLANCE
TARGETING
ADVERTISING
PROFITS
Social platforms carry within them the seeds of
their own destruction
@gparkin

4. Attention-hacking
• Once social made people happier.
• Now it depersonalises connection, damages
mental health.
• Social Media is linked to depression, anxiety,
poor sleep quality, lower self-esteem,
inattention, and hyperactivity, especially in
teens and adolescents. (Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology)
@gparkin

5. Attention-hacking
• Algorithms exploiting surveillance to maximise
social engagement addiction, and optimise
advertising, have made the experience toxic.
• Social media usage makes people more sad
and lonely; and unhappy people use social
media more.
• Less attentive and less receptive, the
“attention-quality” of those we target on
social is degrading.
@gparkin

6. 2015
FACEBOOK
TARGET
AUDIENCE
2020
FACEBOOK
TARGET
AUDIENCE
NICHE
NETWORK
MEMBERS
QUALITY AUDIENCE MEMBER
LOWER VALUE AUDIENCE MEMBER
SOCIAL PLATFORMS LOSE QUALITY AD TARGETS
@gparkin

7. 1.
PROVIDE
TOOLS
TO FACILITATE
NETWORKING
2.
DIVULGE INTERESTS,
NEEDS, CONNECTIONS,
PERSONAL PRIVACY
3.
INVEST IN
CREATING
AUDIENCES
4.
PROVIDE
TOOLS
TO TARGET
USERS
5.
BUY ACCESS
TO
AUDIENCES
6.
FEEL USED
AND LEAVE
8.
FEEL USED
AND LEAVE
USERS
BRANDS
MAJOR
SOCIAL
PLATFORMS
THE DECLINE OF SOCIAL PLATFORMS
7.
PROVIDE
GROUPS,
EPHEMERAL
EXPERIENCES
TO RETAIN
USERS
@gparkin
8.
FEEL USED
AND LEAVE

8. USERS will come to see Facebook (and similar services) as
deliberate abusers of personal privacy and of self esteem .
BRANDS will come to see Facebook (and similar services) as
the greatest corporate bait-and-switch scam of the century.
THE DECLINE OF SOCIAL PLATFORMS
NICHE NETWORKS founded on trust and specific mutual
interests will blossom. Advertising will fall, experience sponsorship
will rise.
@gparkin

9. MASS
PUBLIC
PLATFORM
ALIENATED
USER
BASE
TRIBAL
GROUP
SEGMENTATION
SEPARATE
NETWORKS,
PRIVATE
MESSAGING
EXPLOSION
OF NICHE
NETWORKS
CENTRALISATION.
FAKES. PRIVACY.
EXPLOITATION.
POSITIVE
SOCIAL
EXPERIENCE
SUBCULTURE-
BAIT
TOOLS
QUEST FOR
RELEVANCE &
SAFETY
EXPLOITED.
DEPRESSED.
DEPENDENT.
EMPOWERED.
POSITIVE.
INFLUENTIAL.
VIRAL
DEPARTURE
THE MOVING SOCIAL TARGET
@gparkin

10. Attention retention via niche networks
Internet pivoting to subscriptions,
paywalls, private walled gardens.
Slack has Channels, Facebook has Groups,
Reddit has Subreddits, Instagram has
Threads. Amazon bought Goodreads and
Twitch.
What’s your brand’s social strategy?
@gparkin

11. Linked-In For Women
Sophia Amoruso (ex-CEO of
NastyGal) launched girlboss, a
“sleeker, more millennial-
friendly alternative to LinkedIn”
@gparkin

12. Niche Network - girlboss

13. Niche Network - girlboss

14. Niche Network - girlboss

15. Niche Network - girlboss

16. Niche Network - girlboss

17. Everyone who knows anything of history also
knows that great social revolutions are
impossible without the feminine ferment.
Marx
@gparkin

18. Niche Network - Nextdoor

19. Niche Network - Dribble

20. Niche Network - Inspire

21. Niche Network – Daily Burn

22. Niche Network - Untappd

23. Niche Network – Care2

24. Niche Network – Black Planet

25. Attention retention via niche networks
• BlackPlanet for African Americans
• Care2.com for green living people
• Letterboxd for movie fans
• Untappd for beer lovers
• Cafemom for mothers
• Dribble or Behance for designers
• Fubar for drinkers
• ThirdAge for seniors
• Girlboss for career women
• Nextdoor for neighbours
• Dailyburn for exercisers
• Stockpickr for brokers
• Inspire for patients &
healthcare pros
• Ozmosis for doctors
• ParentsConnect for parents
• Allrecipes cooks
• Houzz for decor fans
@gparkin

26. Social media still influential
Over 40% of Gen Z favour DTC. 52% of their
brand discovery comes from social channels
(Emarketer study)
But increasingly it is niche networks and dark
conversations where this happens – where
people feel safe.
@gparkin

27. Social media still influential
Brands have to invest more in sponsoring or
contributing to authentic niche environments.
The role of social agencies and content creators
must evolve into trusted conversational
marketing.
@gparkin

28. Social listening – personalised
intelligence
• Dark conversational social, encrypted
messaging, subcultures and tribalism are all
growing, making monitoring harder.
• Social media intelligence looks for the “why”
• AI-driven social intelligence tools: Metigy
optimises owned channels to get better
engagement; Leadza optimises ad campaigns;
Iris in Brandwatch can do in 2 seconds what a
human analysts takes 4 hours to do.
@gparkin

29. Exploiting data benevolently does not
mitigate the enabling offence of privacy
invasion.
If you are funding surveillance, you are
complicit. Review your policy.
@gparkin

30. In Conclusion..
1. Big platform social media marketing is a
mirage.
@gparkin

31. 2. Social media connects
brands with potential
customers in their least
desirable mental state.
@gparkin

32. In Conclusion..
3. If relationships are the goal, don’t be
hitting people up as they pass on the
escalator taking selfies.
@gparkin

33. 4. Algorithms, sockpuppet accounts, fake
news, faux authenticity, surveillance and
privacy legislation are killing marketing
effectiveness on social.
@gparkin

34. 5. Quality time matters, makes
engagement experience positive. Engage in
a niche, not a public forum.
@gparkin

35. We are at the end of the industrial-age for
social media. People are moving to
subculture networks.
Follow them. Or attract them to yours.
@gparkin
“It is not the consciousness of men that
determines their being, but their social being
that determines their consciousness.”
Marx

36. Thank you!
Godfrey Parkin
@gparkin
godfrey.parkin@britefire.com
076 970 1152
@gparkin