Social media platforms old and new captured headlines in 2023 as Twitter was sold, Meta pushed new offerings, concerns grew over teen mental health, and AI went mainstream.
Twitter Becomes X Under Elon Musk
The biggest social media story of 2023 was Elon Musk’s tumultuous $44 billion takeover of Twitter. After a rollercoaster year under Elon Musk helm, Twitter is now called X as Elon Musk pursues his vision for an “everything app” he calls X.
The path has been rocky, with mass layoffs, advertisers fleeing, creators uncertain of their place, and misinformation concerns. But Elon Musk plows ahead, introducing new features like encrypted DMs, long-form tweets, and a vengeance.
Meta Launches Threads to Counter BeReal
With its main platform Facebook stalling out, Meta launched a new social media app in 2023 called Threads aimed at winning over young users.
Threads incorporate popular features like BeReal’s dual front/back camera into a microblogging platform centered around images and short caption threads. It gamifies engagement through a points system and encourages users to capture authentic, unedited moments.
But Threads also raises renewed criticisms over Meta and teens’ mental health and privacy. And its future depends on whether it catches on organically or goes ignored like Facebook’s Snapchat clones.
Also Read – Using LinkedIn for Dating: The Good, Bad and Ugly
Teen Mental Health in the Spotlight
Social media’s impact on mental health – especially for vulnerable teenagers – became an urgent public policy issue in 2023.
Bombshell leaks showed Meta and TikTok knew their apps negatively affected teens – including driving distorted body image and eating disorders among girls. Both pledged reforms, but skeptics argued profits still take priority over safety.
In response, new bills proposed raising the minimum age for social media accounts while schools explored limiting phone use. But platforms maintain when used responsibly, social media benefits teens. Debates continue in 2024 over protecting free speech versus public health concerns.
AI Goes Mainstream on Social Media
Artificial intelligence exploded into the mainstream on social media in 2023 thanks to chatbots like ChatGPT plus new real-time voice and image synthesis technology.
Platforms are racing to incorporate conversational AI. Features like automatically generating video captions, enhancing live streams, and synthesizing profile pictures from prompts point to an AI-powered future.
Also Read – How to Add Employees to LinkedIn Company Page: A Step-by-Step Guide
However challenges around misinformation, radicalization dangers, and copyright issues remain unsolved. And some human creators feel threatened by AI’s ability to churn out content. Still, one thing is clear – whether users embrace or resent it, AI is now an integral part of social media.
