If you were to take a look at the landscape of the social media industry just a decade ago, you would notice a showdown between two major players namely Facebook and Twitter. Despite the fact that this is the case, Twitter failed to sustain its growth due to some controversial policies and the social media platform quickly lost its steam after Facebook overtook it in part due to the acquisition of platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp with all things that have been considered and taken into account.
In recent years, a number of new players have emerged, such as Snapchat, Pinterest and of course TikTok. With all that said and now out of the way, it’s important to note that despite Twitter’s apparent lack of traction among social media users, it continues to be where media publishers can make the most money potential followers. This comes from research conducted by Axios where 82 major news and media outlets were surveyed and analyzed.
Each of these publishers had a Twitter account due to the fact that this is the type of thing that could end up allowing them to expand their reach. Facebook came in second with Instagram in third, and while YouTube lagged far behind, it was still an important source for media agencies and news outlets.
Interestingly, TikTok seems to be missing from this list. About 25% of organizations surveyed did not have a TikTok account, and even those that had the foresight to create one had great difficulty finding followers. There are two possible reasons for this. First, TikTok is still a fairly new platform and organizations are still somewhat hesitant to fully invest in it. Additionally, TikTok’s algorithm is significantly less predictable, making Twitter the preferred choice.
Another thing to note here is that TikTok is still finding an identity for itself. Most of its users are looking for light entertainment, so it may not have an audience for news right now, although that may change in the future.
The type of media publishers are putting out there can also dramatically affect their performance. For example, publishers who post content related to business and finance tend to find a lot of success on LinkedIn because of its community of professionals looking to improve their skills and build a proper network. Meanwhile, sports-oriented publishers like ESPN tend to perform better on Instagram, making TikTok a good option for them as well.
Meanwhile, news outlets are branching out of Twitter by setting up shop on YouTube and Facebook as well. Therefore, while Twitter is the standard platform they post to first, they refine their content for publication on various other platforms, also depending on their location. This gives each platform a bit of an edge, and it’s interesting to see Twitter still fighting it out so many years later. We’ll have to see if Elon Musk’s upcoming acquisition has any kind of impact on Twitter’s current status as a hub for news and media publishing.
Read more: Here are the most used and misspelled words on CVs in 2022
