Social Media: Where Did All the Unique Selling Points Go?

In times gone by, creating a wide array of social media accounts for ourselves made sense. On Facebook, we could keep up with our friends and family, and indulge in a little light gaming. On Instagram, we could carefully curate an aesthetic glimpse of our lives, and snoop on the lifestyles of the rich and famous in the process. With Twitter, we could post short form anecdotes, quotes, announcements and, as with Instagram, keep up with our favourite celebrities. Snapchat came a little later, and offered the same short form capabilities in video format.

These days, a number of features once exclusive to one platform are now shared by all. When Instagram adopted the ‘stories’ feature, for instance, it was likened to Snapchat – now, the same feature exists on Facebook, Twitter’s Fleets system, YouTube and, most recently, Spotify – although there it is reserved for artists, and currently in its early stages of experimentation.

These days, there is little reason to adopt more than one account. Yes, you might miss the occasional update, but the chances are that each post will trickle down into other accounts.

Where Did it All Go Wrong?

Industry leaders for online entertainment offer a reason to choose them over any other, and the differences are not hard to find. Users can visit services like Roku offer a comprehensive search through content exclusive to different movie streaming, such as Amazon Video, Hulu and Netflix. Sites like Allfreechips.com scour the web for the very best in online casinos offering an edge over the many competitors and, in a similar vein, there are innumerable reviewers and news outlets covering the diverse content on offer from the various game streaming services.

The key is difference. While the online landscape is, and always will be, awash with competitors for every market within the digital entertainment industry, there will always be those sites and services that offer a definitive edge over the rest.

Social media is, at this point in time, surviving the homogenization of the platforms. The vast majority of us likely still have multiple accounts to our name, with the average currently falling at eight per person. We will have our preferences – Twitter still offers the edge, for instance, among those who prefer reading content, but these differences are only superficial.

What Can We Expect?

If the past few years are anything to go by, we can anticipate more features will roll out onto the various platforms – and, of course, that their originality will only last so long. There is a strong sense that each platform is ready to emulate the new success experienced by another.

The real question lies in how long they will get away with this. Of course, there are benefits to holding more than one account, but our desire to have plenty of outlets for procrastinating on our phones can only carry these platforms so far, and it feels as though it is only a matter of time before we begin to realize how pointless it is to spread ourselves thin across multiple accounts, rather than focusing on one that is able to offer all the benefits of each.