Hanna Kahlert | MIDiA Research

The BlueSky migration: How cultural shifts can disrupt even the most established social media platforms

Hanna Kahlert

19 Nov 2024

Twitter clones have proliferated since Elon Musk first bought and renamed the platform to X in 2022. Despite a lot of buzz around platforms like Mastodon and BlueSky, none have seemed to capture a significant...

min read

MIDiA Research 2024-2031 global social forecasts
New frontiers and strong growth ahead

Cover image for MIDiA Research 2024-2031 global social forecasts

Hanna Kahlert and Mark Qi

November 2024

YouTube

Facebook

Instagram

More than ever, social platforms are the de facto way that consumers interact not only with entertainment but with the internet itself. As internet access expands in emerging markets and social platforms...

Info-tainment, Kamala’s campaign failure, and the distortive role of social media marketing

Hanna Kahlert

12 Nov 2024

Marketing Strategy

social media

trump presidency

The recent US election has capped off one of the biggest global election years in recent history, and the world around us is changing rapidly. Digital life, and specifically social media platforms, play...

min read

Two years into the AI craze, where does it go next?

Hanna Kahlert

6 Nov 2024

AI market

Investment

startup

We are almost two years into the reality of large-language-model (LLM) artificial intelligence. Now, the future of AI is heralding the return of nuclear power: both Google and Microsoft have announced...

min read

Ofcom, Elon Musk, and the future of the social platform marketplace

Hanna Kahlert

30 Oct 2024

regulation

social platforms

TikTok

Earlier this year, riots broke out across the UK, fuelled largely by misinformation and inflammatory discourse on social media. At the time, it was unclear who bore responsibility: did the brunt of the...

min read

Social platforms are eating passive entertainment. Are games eating social?

Hanna Kahlert

22 Oct 2024

social

social media

gaming

At Sony Music’s Interactive Tech Day in London on 22nd October, gaming was, ironically, the highlight. From artist takeovers of Roblox destinations to concert-type experiences in Fortnite Islands, the...

min read

Social is eating entertainment
The future of memes, music, social platforms, and beyond

Cover image for Social is eating entertainment

Hanna Kahlert

October 2024

Product Strategy

Entertainment is now a key reason consumers engage with social platforms, opening new opportunities for social and raising new challenges for traditional entertainment. Social platforms offer not only...

The next era of entertainment: AI and social are lowering barriers, but new ones must emerge

Hanna Kahlert

15 Oct 2024

social

art

creators

There is an inherent tension between tech-enabled accessibility to creation (good), and the ability for that entertainment to become successful (challenging). Music and other entertainment industries typically...

min read

AI, dead internet theory, and why analogue is a future-proof business strategy

Hanna Kahlert

8 Oct 2024

dead internet

analogue revival

analogue

The internet is abuzz over Google NotebookLM’s eerily realistic-sounding podcasts. Last week, MIDiA wrote about how it will disrupt primarily information-driven podcasting, rather than entertainment...

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TikTok’s creator subscriptions point to the future of social platforms

Hanna Kahlert

1 Oct 2024

TikTok

Subscriptions

creator

It’s been a big week for TikTok. On the heels of shutting down its music streaming service , the platform has announced an expansion of its creator subscription program. In addition to existing LIVE...

min read

TikTok may be shutting down its music service, but it will still compete with streaming

Hanna Kahlert

24 Sep 2024

social

Streaming

TikTok

TikTok has announced that it plans to shut down its music streaming service, TikTok Music, at the end of November (per Bloomberg ). The company has cautioned users that they should migrate all their playlists...

min read

The digital generation wants to go offline: the roots of an analogue revival

Hanna Kahlert

17 Sep 2024

analogue

Vinyl

social

In March of 2020, the world went largely virtual. With no way to go out and live normal day-to-day lives in the physical sense, the digital world took over – from Zoom calls with family members to social...

min read

Analogue revival
A cultural pendulum swing

Hanna Kahlert

September 2024

Cultural Trends

From the dumb phone trend to a vinyl revival, analogue has been back on the rise in the cultural zeitgeist. This could shake up the digital ecosystem and unlock potential opportunities for entertainment...

BlueSky benefits from X’s Brazil ban: a fragmenting social ecosystem is shaky ground for incumbents

Hanna Kahlert

10 Sep 2024

market

brazil

bluesky

X has long been the social platform of ‘on the pulse’ news updates and cultural happenings. Its users over-index for using social platforms to keep up with news and culture (as outlined in our social...

min read

From ubiquitous bird app to banned in Brazil: what happened to X (and will it happen to others)?

Hanna Kahlert

4 Sep 2024

X

TikTok

twitter

Early in August, Elon Musk was vaguely threatened with extradition to the UK for his role in spreading misinformation that resulted in riots. Three weeks later, X was banned in Brazil, following unpaid...

min read

Who wins the social spiral? Consumers’ relationship with social platforms is changing

Hanna Kahlert

28 Aug 2024

social media

X

There is no shortage of takes on the role of social platforms in our daily lives, from former influencers lamenting the end of Twitter’s golden era to researchers studying social media’s impact on...

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Instagram and the download-delete cycle: a cultural shift for social platforms

Hanna Kahlert

13 Aug 2024

social

analogue revival

ecommerce

Forget the tech-centric sci-fi future promised by the early 2000’s; the new aspiration is going offline. Analogue is the new ‘cool’, and it is not just about nostalgia. Audiences are searching for...

min read

Algorithms, AI, truth, and trust: why social platforms should be worried about the riots

Hanna Kahlert

6 Aug 2024

social

Cultural Trends

Social platforms have had a rocky history with misinformation, from US election cycles to social unrest . Over time, platforms have alleged new restrictions and guidelines intended to help reduce the risks....

min read

Social is the new entertainment; enter MIDiA’s new social vertical

Hanna Kahlert

24 Jul 2024

social

Audience behaviour

AI

Social platforms are now inextricable from the digital world and every aspect of entertainment. Fans and A&Rs alike discover new music on social platforms. Marketing strategies for artists and concerts...

min read

Social platform user behaviour
Q1 2024

Cover image for Social platform user behaviour

Hanna Kahlert

July 2024

Marketing Strategy

The social platform marketplace is mature, with user growth stabilising, and the established platforms now fiercely competing for shares of a finite amount of available time. This report analyses the behaviours...