The way that we communicate with eachother is consatantly evolving, and this leads to the evolution of language. The digital space is no exception to this effect. Here are five ways that you may have seen digital communication change in the last year:
1. Shoppable Posts
Social media has in recent times grown to mean a big deal to businesses, as they can communicate directly with potential customers through branded accounts. In 2019, picture-sharing site Instagram began using shoppable posts. This concept allows for more direct marketing of a business’s goods or services as the user can simply follow a quick link to the products page on a marketplace website such as amazon.com, and often the link can be opened without ever leaving the app.
This trend is not limited to Instagram however and has been utilised by Pinterest and Facebook as well, to name just a few. Facebook recently launched Shops, intended to help small business get their products out to consumers.
2. 5G Mobile Internet
5G leading to better video broadcasting
There has been a recent surge in news surrounding the implementation of 5G. This is the new fifth generation of mobile internet broadcasting, and it differs from previous types of mobile data in that it will allow for users to host receive video calls more easily and it handles live video and audio better.
This means that entities such as the SABC will be able to broadcast video more easily to those that only access the internet in a regular basis through their mobile devices. As a factor of the high levels of poverty in the country, these individuals make up most of South Africa’s population.
3. Cloud services
The use of cloud computing in business has recently taken off due largely to the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus in 2020. Institutions of all kinds including Government, NGOs, schools and even doctors have been forced at some point to make use of more cloud computing services to allow them to still get the necessary work done and share files or documents without risking physical contact.
This increased use of the services has prompted them to become more secure and less liable to being overwhelmed with users. Institutions that previously operated without the use of much technology now have had to implement it and are likely to keep aspects of it in their operations.
4. SERP Position Zero
Position zero is the first, and sometimes only, result that some users will view. As such, it is highly coveted and should be the focus of your efforts.
While many business owners appreciate the fact that marketing continues to change at a fast pace, those who are willing to adapt and evolve will continue to attract high-quality customers in a digital world.
This refers to the first item seen when searching for something on Google. This popular search engine and others have introduced ‘featured snippets’ to search results that show relevant content from one of the top search results that attempts to directly answer the user’s question. This is referred to as position zero as it sits above the first organic search result, which is the link to the top webpage as found by the search engine.
Marketers recently have had to redesign their websites to be more eligible for being featured at position zero. This includes having a main paragraph that contains the keywords that you are trying to capture internet traffic with that answers the question that the user is searching for.
5. WebRTC
This technology is Web-Based Communication in Real Time, and it refers to having live video calls ongoing in a browser as opposed to making use of an internet-connected app on the device. It has become a trend during 2020 as part of the increased use of video calls due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus. This suited quick video calls that did not have the luxury of being set up by ICT personnel or the user beforehand. The best example of this new technology is used by Zoom, as with this service only the host of the video call needs to have the Zoom app installed and any users who want to join the call can do so without leaving their browser.
Digital Citizenship 