Size Does Matter

Ok, actually it’s not about the size but more about the length and in a much different way than you probably would think.

Let me share with you a thought; everything that is becoming popular is smaller. I know the porn industry wouldn’t agree with me but this matter isn’t concerning them. Rather, it’s about the Internet and everything concerning on how we consume the internet. Let us start from the beginning.

In the very beginning, there was SMS. Everything starts here. 140 characters to say what you want. At the beginning, single SMS wasn’t cheap however still cheaper than a phone call. Thus, people started to practice how to put into short form all they wanted to communicate. It wasn’t easy at the very beginning. Times flies – the price for SMS began getting lower and lower and finally free of charge for many.

During this time appeared Twitter, a free way of communicating but still very limited in terms of numbers of characters – like SMS. People were ready for this kind of communication and Twitter became popular in many countries (let’s leave out for the moment revenues or lack of them).

However, the world didn’t stop there. The world we are living in becomes faster and faster. We have less time for everything or at least that is how we make it seem. Perhaps it’s just better to say we don’t have time. Anyway, the statement that we don’t have time didn’t stay in vacuum and world reacts.

Let’s stop here. Just imagine what time we live in. First of all, it’s the era of the technological revolution of communication. It’s an instant change. The phone had it’s time of prosperity. Today, something that might be hot in the next few months might be forgotten.

We are living in the era of the technological revolution as well. Today’s hot devices will be replaced by other’s by the next year (not necessary by better ones).

Last but not least – we are living in an era of disruption. It means that for more and more people it’s almost impossible to focus on something for longer than a minute. Last time when I was speaking in a conference in Vilnius I described something along these lines:

“We are living in the era of disruption. When I am looking at an audience I saw that some of you took out your smartphones. If I were younger and less experienced I would take it personally. I would think that you’re not very interested in my presentation. Obviously there is always chance that you might not be but I think that many of you have a FOMO syndrome (Fear of Missing Out) or you are just so used to using your smartphone that you can’t imagine a different behavior, and as we know fighting against our behavior is something which can be the hardest thing to do”.

If you are responsible for a brand or you are an app developer – you need to deal with it. There is a way to do it. Just look at what was popular during last years and the reason for its popularity:

Facebook – it was dedicated primarily to students, later it become a worldwide platform. Still, communication is rather short and concrete. If you publish longer posts you can count on some comments like “TL;DR”. People don’t want to read, people scan text and it’s much easier to scan 2-3 sentences instead of 15.

What was next popular thing? Instagram. It’s all about pictures and hashtags. This is the modern way for the youth to communicate. This is a form of communication I would name as Minimum Viable Communication. It’s a paraphrase of Minimum Viable Products which is a product with just enough features to be used, but it still needs further development. With communication, the minimum has to look like maximum and it doesn’t need further development.

Now Facebook and Instagram are treated like something for older people.

Even younger people opt for Snapchat which allows 10 seconds of video only. What can you say or show during 10 seconds? If you are wondering still, you are too old for this platform and if you are a marketer and are thinking about advertisement – don’t. You are too old-school and don’t understand what’s all about.

Did I mention that we are living in the era of revolution of communication? OK, so young people voted again. The next application that becomes more and more popular is Musical.ly

What’s that? It’s an application that allows you to create your own lip dub in very easy way. Your video is limited to 15 seconds.

What do they all have in common?

Every platform gives people something they didn’t have before. An easy way to connect with others, an easier way to quickly communicate, an easy way to become a great photographer (even if you don’t have any skills), an easy way to show whatever you want and let it go and finally, an easy way to create your short video clip to your favorite music.

Second. They all attracted young people. For some time now – even younger and younger.

If you are brand owner your task is harder than ever. It’s not about content now, but true content that the youth will trust. Good luck and Godspeed!

If you want to build a successful application learn from Facebook, Instagram, Vine, Snapchat and Musical.ly and remember that in the era of technology revolution of communication your fame won’t last forever. Or it lasts only a little bit longer that snap or clip on Musical.ly