The work of a public relations professional is often defined by his or her select means of communication. When communicating through social media as most modern professionals do, we must recognize and keep up with current and emerging trends. Here are some insights on the behavior of social media audiences for the year.

1. Rates of consumption won’t increase. Researcher’s have seen a one percent drop in consumption habits. Therefore as users slow their dependence online, competition for attention from audiences is expected to increase.

2. Smart speakers will be the forefront of technology. It’s estimated that by 2021 roughly 2 billion people will be using a digital assistant and 50 percent of all search queries will be conducted through voice search. Manually searching will be a thing of the past, and Alexa will become queen.

3. There will become a stronger divide between television and the internet. By next year, audiences will be spending just as much time watching TV as they do searching the internet. The average person will spend slightly over 2.6 hours a day browsing the internet and 2.7 hours a day watching television. It’s expected that TV will become less popular as technology advances.

4. Increased focus on privacy. There is no doubt that the online community has feared invasion of privacy. Future social media networks and companies are expected to offer more advanced privacy settings and profile privacy in the near future.

5. Video will be the top dog in media trends. The focus of the live option continues to grow. Instagram live, Snapchat stories and Facebook live have dominated social media.

6. The self care movement is remerging. Social media can be a constant bombardment of information and stimulation. Social media users are beginning to build each other up, rather than tear each other down by rekindling humanity amongst users.

As online media communities increasingly adopt these characteristics, PR professionals must work harder and constantly strive to stand out amongst growing competition.

Students! Create good content. Create it often and make it heartfelt to your audience.