X Marks the Spot: 2023 in Social Media

By Brittany Siminitz | December 18, 2023

This year saw some changes in the landscape of social media, but many potential changes that were anticipated never really panned out. Platforms that have been steadfast in our lives wavered but didn’t fall, despite numerous competitors attempting to grab the throne and efforts by those in charge to seemingly sabotage their own apps.

Yes, I’m mostly talking about Twitter—or, I guess, X. The Elon Musk–owned platform, once a staple app on many people’s phones, has been the subject of controversy for the better part of the year (though plenty of users are still conducting business on it as usual). So descended the competition, as Twitter-esque apps saw their opportunity to snag defecting users and catch the interest of those reading the headlines about Musk and what was happening at X.

Among the upstarts, Bluesky seemed promising given its pedigree—it was founded by the former CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey. By a show of hands, who’s actively using Bluesky? Anyone?

And then came Threads. If any competitor seemed poised to be the “new Twitter,” this was it—owned by Meta and tightly linked to your Instagram account. Joining Threads was easy, and posting was too, and for a hot minute, everybody and their brother was using it. Until it got boring.

We’re left to wonder: Why bother replacing Twitter at all? Why not just…let it go?

Aside from the Twitter-I-Mean-X competitors, a wave of other new apps came to the scene, many leaving so quickly it doesn’t seem worth even noting their names. Latest craze Lapse, a photo-based app that offers a fun bit of nostalgia, feels fleeting in its popularity as well.

Social commerce was a buzzy term in 2023, and one that won’t be going away soon, as apps like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok continue to push their e-commerce capabilities. Still, the Western market isn’t quite here for it yet (compared with users in China), as many consumers don’t seem to trust the safety and security of shopping via social media. Will that change? It seems inevitable: Plenty of consumers used to be skeptical of shopping online at all, and here we are. Butnothing is for certain, and social media has a ways to go if it wants to earn people’s trust—and money.

Oh, and we must mention that other massive topic taking not only social media but countless other industries by storm, AI. If you haven’t (intentionally) used an artificial intelligence program in 2023 in some capacity, you can bet you will in 2024.

Last but not least, a shout-out to Pinterest. A quiet giant, this app’s still more than kicking, and providing an important avenue for many generations of users—Gen Z, increasingly—to discover new trends (possibly?) shop, and feel positive, unlike some other social platforms. May it continue honing its strengths, especially for jewelry companies, in 2024.