The Future Report 2021 on Social Media

The Future Report explains how the COVID-19 pandemic affects the use of Social Media. Users spent a large part of their daily lives on Social Media platforms due to the lockdown. The collective threat of the virus opened the space for fake news, which spread rapidly. While Facebook, WhatsApp and Co. replaced personal contact and exchange during this sensitive time. A wave of solidarity swept over us. Digital communication tools like Zoom and Teams established themselves across generations and enabled virtual lunch breaks between work colleagues, digital events, Christmas dinners with family members and sports sessions in one’s own living room. After years of filter use and perfectly curated images, Social Media users demand authenticity and humanity. Actions like #teamsweatpants and increasingly growing digital living room activities put the focus on community. As the Future Report describes, Social Media are suddenly living up to their basic idea again: people connect via social networks. This is about trust and credibility. Increasingly, liked or shared content has been verified by trusted people — influence needs evidence. The days of glamorous influencers on Instagram are over. “New communication spaces are emerging for an open and enlightened shaping of the future”, emphasises Anja Kirig in the Future Report. “Tomorrow’s Social Media mindset will increasingly focus on the competencies that social networks have in store for a global future to be shaped together: collaboration and connectivity.”

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