This article first appeared in Digital Edge, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 27, 2021 - January 2, 2022

Since Snapchat launched its Stories feature in 2013, it has taken social media sites by storm, with almost all social apps having their own version of it. This feature allows users to post photos and videos that will last only 24 hours. The latest platform to launch a similar feature late this year was TikTok.

Live audio apps saw a boom this year too, with the emergence of Clubhouse in early 2021. Within a few months, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn announced the planned rollout of their own versions of Stories. Today, however, live audio apps are barely in the spotlight compared with their popularity during the height of the global lockdowns.

The latest platform to incorporate a disappearing element is WhatsApp. The platform now allows users to turn on “Disappearing Messages” by default, making messages delete themselves after a certain period. The “Disappearing Messages” timer can be set for 24 hours, 7 days or 90 days.

This feature can also be configured for each individual chat, with both users being able to turn the feature on and off, as well as both users being notified of any changes made. As for groups, the admins can choose whether to let other participants use this feature.

Nevertheless, social media users are attracted to ephemeral communication tools and content, especially as a means of entertaining themselves during the pandemic, which begs the question: What exactly is the appeal?

A recent study by Microsoft concluded that the human attention span has dropped to eight seconds, shrinking nearly 25% in just a few years. This also means that the way people consume content is evolving as they prefer shorter content that is packed with information.

Charlene Anne Fernandez, founder of digital marketing company That Social Fern, tells Digital Edge that stories are the best way to get information across to people quickly. From a social aspect, stories are able to provide a glimpse into people’s lives and followers have only 24 hours to view it, adding a “fear of missing out” (FOMO) element.

“So much information can be shared in a photo and a lot more in a video. For brands, they are able to get their message across to followers quickly and for users, they are able to show how great their lives are in short bursts,” she explains.

The difference between posting an image or video on a profile feed versus stories also boils down to the significance of the post. Feed posting is more curated, says Fernandez, adding that the gratification that comes from post likes is not as instant and impactful as story views.

“Dr Raffaello Antonino, a counselling psychologist and the clinical director and founder of Therapy Central, says stories are very much like Netflix. So once you start viewing stories on a platform, you tend to binge-watch stories everyone has posted that are on your feed. The ‘in the moment’ element is also an appeal to both users and followers watching the stories, as it feeds the FOMO fear.”

Stories also add a sense of privacy to a person’s life. On most platforms, users get to curate lists to decide who can view their stories. Joshua Kyle Manorkaran, managing director of WondersKL, explains that as the different social media platforms evolve to cater for specific demographics, users find themselves wanting to privatise their posts from people they may deem as acquaintances.

The people behind social media platforms, he says, have studied the psychological and emotional effects stories have on users and have marketed them in a way that appeals to users’ needs, without their even knowing it. An example is the rollout of the “Close friends” story feature on Instagram, where users can share content with a select group of people.

“Stories allow people to show their real life, while their feeds are more curated as users tend to take their time and think about what they want to post,” he says.

“At the end of the day, people tend to forget that social media was created for the sole intention of connecting with others online and to share their thoughts and feelings. As platforms like Facebook become populated with everyone’s parents and relatives, stories allow users to continue their sharing without exposing their inner thoughts to everyone on their feed.”

Similarly, with live audio features, Joshua says people like living in the moment and having that temporary space to speak their mind and thoughts, without its being documented. The privacy element, in this sense, is the fact that only a person’s voice is there, without having to show their face.

“Some people have more confidence speaking up when their face is not shown, which then makes them more open to talk about topics on platforms like Clubhouse, for example,” he says.

“But there definitely is an appeal to people who want to be there in the moment but who do not want anything to be recorded. They can say whatever they want and the probability of facing a backlash or having what they say held against them is lower compared with stories.”

Facebook is typically used by baby boomers and Gen X-ers, TikTok is used by Gen Z and Instagram is used by everyone. This is a general overview of the user base on the platforms and with that alone, Joshua deduces that the “stories” feature appeals to the younger generation, based on the usage of this feature on each app.

Fernandez concurs, saying that the success or failure of ephemeral features is defined by the age of the target audience, as how a person interacts with social media differs with age.

“LinkedIn had the stories feature but it took it down because not many people were using it. And if you think about the purpose of LinkedIn, what kind of stories would suit the site? People aren’t going to post their food and outings there, perhaps more job postings and articles, but that’s already done in the feed,” she says.

“It makes sense that Stories flopped on LinkedIn because the people on this site are professionals who are 25 and above. Instagram’s main users are 18 to 34. Even that small age gap is really important.”

User interface plays an important role too. Fernandez says Instagram’s layout is structured in a way that highlights stories, similar to Snapchat. On top of that, Instagram is synonymous with photo sharing, which makes stories a seamless fit for the app.

“This is also why the feature doesn’t work well on WhatsApp, Twitter and LinkedIn. The focal point was not the stories, but other things within the platform that worked well. It’s not a problem; it’s just that the right tool is needed for the right audience and purpose,” Fernandez says.

Meanwhile, Joshua says the live audio feature is still somewhat experimental, as Clubhouse was launched during the pandemic. It picked up because everyone was at home and needed some way to interact and get content, but not long after, the feature was barely spoken about.

Other platforms, such as Twitter and LinkedIn, still have the live audio feature, but the feature’s traction is not because of the live audio function. The demographics of live audio users are varied, but they do consist of key opinion leaders most of the time, which tends to be the attraction.

“Currently, people’s brains are somewhat overstimulated by fast-moving video content to be able to buckle down and listen to someone speak live. It will be interesting to see how live audio features expand their platform usage in the post-pandemic world.

“It can definitely be an asset, especially when it comes to building niche, social communities of people with similar interests. It’s a good way for people to share and gain knowledge,” he says.

Fernandez believes Clubhouse’s downfall was the over-congestion of users of the feature and the inability to filter the audiences joining discussion rooms. Sometimes, a room would be advertising a specific topic but once users entered, they found that it was just a group of people talking rubbish.

“If you’re bored in a room on any live audio feature, the only option you have is to leave the room. People can get similar content on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and even TikTok, where they can just scroll to a specific section of the video to get the information they need,” she says.

“You can’t fast-forward or rewind with the live audio feature. I think this is also why audio platforms such as Spotify are still relevant and doing well in the podcast space. People can scroll and skip content that they don’t want to consume.”

During the pandemic, people had minimal outlets to share their thoughts and emotions while confined to their home. Social media was flooded with similar content, such as cooking projects, home improvements or work-from-home routines, on top of the daily Covid-related news content. People started to get tired of social media, with some opting for social media detoxes while others deleted their accounts completely.

Social media fatigue was definitely an issue during the pandemic, says Fernandez, as she herself witnessed a large number of people logging off their social media sites to take a break from the digital world. But will this affect social media usage once we are no longer stuck at home?

Probably not, she says. As people go back to their normal lives and routines, social media would not be as congested as it used to be because people will be posting different content related to their lives. Users will not feel overwhelmed with information because they too will be preoccupied, catching up on things they missed out on during the pandemic.

“In general, we humans just want to connect with others, which is why a lot of people suffer from social media fatigue during the pandemic. Moving forward, people will still want to connect physically and social media connection might be secondary for a while,” she says.

Joshua concurs, adding that the FOMO factor will be very much alive post-pandemic. Not only will users be interested to know what their peers are doing, but people would also want to share their experiences of living life again outdoors and with friends.

“People will still want to go through social media and people’s stories to escape their own mundane life. It’s something we saw before this and it will definitely still happen after we go back to normal living,” Joshua says.

It has also changed the way digital marketers help brands get to customers. Joshua shares that his company took the time to study users’ social media consumption habits and its appeal before crafting a post or digital campaign. Fernandez experienced the same thing too, adding that social media usage will not go back to normal.

“We saw a change in the way people connected and communicated during the pandemic. Online interactions are so normal now that brands have also needed to adapt to the change in social media consumption. But I definitely see social media fatigue decreasing after this point,” she says.

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