The Revival of Consumer Social

Theory #1 | Consumer social as a category is having a renaissance.

Consumer social as a category is having a renaissance.

Until recently, the belief was that big, horizontal platforms (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat) were too dominant to take on. Opportunity had presumably narrowed to “vertical” and “IRL” social. But, the degrading quality of incumbent platforms has kept the door open for challengers. Now with the COVID-19 pandemic uprooting social habits, there’s even more time and space for new players to emerge en masse.  

The chart below represents one way that I’ve analyzed the consumer social landscape — looking at established apps and platforms on the dimensions of medium, audience, timing, and permanence. This is certainly not an exhaustive chart, but is an invitation to discuss. Please reach out if there’s something missing, wrong, or just interesting.