Social media is always changing, with technological advances, both in terms of devices and platforms, enabling new ways for people to interact. 

I don't know about you but I'm always weary about 'trend' research. This isn't because I'm cynical about the findings, it's just that for me the word 'trend' is somewhat based on historical data, therefore not an accurate predictor of where things might end up. 

Which is fine but how do you make sure you're not getting caught up in the 'next trend' mindset, and also find yourself missing out on what could be a game changer for good/bad for your company?.

Whilst the infographic in the link below is interesting it seems to be missing one huge area in the social media space which I personally believe every B2C and B2B company should be looking at which is 'social commerce'.

Whilst the usual suspects (FB, IG etc) in the west are now playing catch up 'We Chat' in China continue to blaze a trail in this area which is why I see more innovation coming out of China than I do from the US. 

A great example is the rise of Stories - a few years ago, Stories wasn't even a consideration, and now more than a billion people use Stories every day across Facebook's family of apps alone. That's also helped boost the use of AR tools like face filters, while VR tools are also on the rise, along with home assistant devices, voice search, etc.