The present and future of social media with Matt Navarra

On this episode, Abadesi talks to Matt Navarra, a social media consultant from the UK. He is a self-described “Facebook geek” who has worked in digital communications for the UK government and was previously social media director at The Next Web.

In this episode:

• Matt analyzes current trends in the social media landscape, including whether the current craze around ephemeral content is here to stay.
• He lays out his predictions for the future of social media 10-20 years from now, talks about the potential benefits of regulation of social media, and why algorithms need to have ethics.
• Matt also provides a ton of tips for founders and makers to help grow their social media following.

We of course also talk about some of his favorite products to help up your social media game, tools that social media managers can't live without, and the smart home devices he loves.

We’ll be back next week so be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Breaker, Overcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Also, big thanks to AngelList and FreshBooks for their support. 😸

Quotes From This Episode

“If we were to spin forwards 10-20 years from now, I think that social media will look completely different. We’ve seen social media climb up the hill of ‘oh, this is amazing, we can share everything, we can touch everyone with everything we do in our lives…’ and now we’re on a downhill slide where people are saying actually this is not good. Having everyone able to talk to everyone openly with no censorship just doesn’t work.” — Matt

“One of the big reasons that Facebook is pushing us towards Facebook Stories is to do with ad revenue growth. Within News Feed at the moment you probably see an ad every sixth or seventh post. If they try to increase that and you were getting an ad every third or fourth post, that really deteriorates the quality of the experience. So Stories is a whole new innovative format for brands to advertise on.” — Matt

“Don’t worry about trying to be on every single platform. Think about who is your audience in terms of location, age, their interests. How does that marry up with the product or service that you’re selling? Use that to guide you towards the most appropriate platform.” — Matt

Companies and Products Mentioned in This Episode

Beam — Create video and slideshow posts for social media.

Google Assistant — Your own personal Google, always ready to help.

Kinzen — Refresh your news routine.

NewsWhip — Check how viral your content is.

Parse.ly Pulse — Understand audience attention.

Philips Hue — Programmable internet-connected lightbulbs.

Twitcher — Switch Twitter accounts without having to sign out/sign in.