As Traditional Media Consumption Shifts, So Do Trends in Social Media Engagement Strategies

A recent study by PQ Media, a market research agency focused on competitive intelligence as it relates to some of today’s top media and technology organizations, disclosed findings that highlight the future of traditional media and how the shift is being led by a highly social Gen-X crowd. Their reports show that 2.1 percent of all traditional media consumption is sure to decrease by 2019. Of course, this figure is conservative.

Millennials are known for influencing tech innovations in the workplace. But, the Gen-X audience is the true leader in digital media interests. They spend more than 25.3 hours a week on average, consuming “doubled-up” digital media content. This consumption overlaps social media engagement and online collaboration.

“Increasingly, online and mobile media usage is being driven by the digital brand extensions of traditional media, driving up overall media as more content is re-purposed for digital devices, such as internet and mobile video streaming of TV programs and movies; online radio stations; web-based multiplayer editions of console video games; and mobile newspaper and magazine apps,” said PQ Media President and COO, Patrick Quinn.

The combined consumption of digital media and traditional media is totaled on average at 64.7 percent of our waking hours. This number is set to rise to 67 percent, even with the decline in traditional media consumption – especially with social impact playing a hand at the deck.

Acknowledging and adopting this concept, NetShow.com’s social streaming network and WebRTC ecosystem “buys in” to what is said to become a trillion-dollar market segment and mobile streaming lifestyle.

Realizing a gap in media consumption and identifying opportunity, NetShow.com introduces a bidirectional and highly interactive platform that allows us to engage our friends in shared social media consumption.

A membership-based portal is open to all networks and content providers from OTT media giants and independent media sources, as a platform engage audiences in shareable media content. Studies show that 90% of consumed digital content will be video-based.

Combining trends in the mobile experience, NetShow has developed systems that integrate various media types, including news, sports, entertainment, virtual reality and IoT interactives, further creating an engaging experience for two-way conversation within the media space. This is totally contrary to linear media sources we are accustomed to.

According to The Digital Facility, “NetShow has engineered the first “mobile living room” mobile broadband entertainment and interaction anywhere, any time. The platform empowers an interactive, immersive social viewing experience with friends and family around the world via face-to-face virtual conferencing overlay and its power isn’t limited to traditional media.”

Soon, you won’t need to screenshare in Skype to have a long distance date with your significant other. Platforms will now accommodate real-time viewing and interactivity, while you share screams and laughter.

“At NetShow, we feel we are the best investment opportunity for local TV and cable broadcast networks, along with film studios, for broadcast streaming distribution,” explains CEO Michael Evingham. “Social, connected streaming is the media of tomorrow; a way for audiences to build true relationships with each other and the content they enjoy. Networks can leverage the power and insight of social to deliver precisely what viewers want and expect. Rather than building isolated, non-social platforms of their own, NetShow provides a powerful, far-reaching solution for the future of streaming media in all its forms.”

While Gen-X consumers are the heaviest consumers of digital media consumption, our early adopters are their children. The iGen or Generation Z crowd and the Millennial professional are set to be the first adopters of NetShow’s innovative platform.

Unlike the Gen-X crowd, younger generations don’t mind sitting through ad-supported videos, which will in turn contribute to advertising effectiveness. To effectively engage universal audiences, NetShow is set to embed mobile streams that allow conversation to start amongst strangers, based on specific interest and popular discussion, related to the media being consumed. And that, my “friends,” is how the face of media will never be the same.