5 social media trends that are changing Asia

Each year, the world’s biggest online shopping day isn’t Black Friday or Cyber Monday, it’s Singles Day, a Chinese holiday in November when young people celebrate (or lament) being single. On Single’s Day last year, the Alibaba group conducted $9.3 billion in commerce through its marketplaces in just 24 hours, blowing away all online sales records. Nearly 50% of sales volume was via mobile, up from just 15% in 2013.

As impressive as these numbers are, mobile commerce is poised to grow even more in the Asia Pacific region, thanks in large part to social media innovations. Alibaba is already discussing potential partnerships with other tech giants, such as Apple on a mobile payments system and social-messaging operators Line of Japan and KakaoTalk of Korea.

As the world of mobile payments integrates with social media, the lines between communication and commerce will blur. The following trends promise to shake up Asia Pacific’s social media scene in the months ahead:

1. Social media and messaging apps become your wallet
   This month, Facebook announced a new feature in its popular Messenger app that will allow its 500 million users to transfer money to one another using just debit card information, free of charge. Meanwhile, Twitter is introducing a new tool that allows coupons from retailers to be loaded directly on to your credit card via a tweet, then applied automatically at checkout.
   For Asia-based social media and messaging platforms, mobile payment is already on the rise and becoming one of the biggest battle zones in tech. WeChat, KakaoTalk and Line have already started offering mobile payment services in selected countries. For instance, WeChat and Line users are now able to order food, book taxis and even shop for clothes through the messaging app. This is part of a broader move by social messaging platforms to turn their communication tools into “lifestyle platforms”, one-stop shops for socializing, shopping and even transportation.

2. Smart devices integrate social media
   Cheap sensors have led to an explosion of smart devices. Everything from home appliances (such as smart chopsticks) to wearables (such as fitness bracelets) are now collecting data and zapping it wirelessly to the internet. Take Tupelo’s Mymo, for example, a new activity tracker that was launched in India in September: it allows users to cash in steps for rewards such as mobile talk time, groceries, airline miles and vacations.
   The challenge now becomes how to more intelligently integrate this fast-growing internet of things with social media. It’s not enough for these devices to simply auto-post updates on users’ social streams. Instead, smart devices need to start tapping users’ social graphs, their unique networks of friends and followers, in better ways. A very simple example: a smart fridge that tracks your Facebook events, sees that you’re planning a party and how many people have sent RSVPs, and then instructs you to make last-minute buys at your nearby supermarket.
   By listening to social media in more sophisticated ways (i.e. tracking users’ activities and interactions with friends and followers, then responding accordingly) smart devices stand to get even smarter in the year ahead.

3. E-tailers turning to social media
   Social media is fast changing the face of e-commerce, providing traditional online retailers with a new way to reach audiences and make sales. Lazada, one of the most successful e-commerce start-ups in South-East Asia, is now actively engaging its customers on social media platforms. Qoo10, one of Singapore’s e-commerce pioneers, had its start on Facebook and saw great success leveraging the network as an advertising platform.
   Looking ahead, expect the mobile e-commerce space to expand even further, with social media playing an integral role. With the growing penetration of low-cost smartphones and faster internet connectivity in Asia, especially in the South-East Asia region, we will continue to see more people making purchases via social networks.

4. New dating apps rise
   Inspired by the runaway popularity of Tinder, the dating app, a number of similar apps are appearing throughout Asia. Newcomers include Peekawoo, with a user base of thousands; Paktor, a Singapore-based app with more than 1.5 million registered users; and Momo, China’s popular dating app turned social network, which boasts more than 60 million users a month.
   Momo has just been listed on the US stock market, while Paktor raised more than $5 million in the past 12 months and claims to be the largest player in South-East Asia. Expect to see aggressive scaling in the year ahead, as well as the addition of features that further muddy the distinction between dating platforms and social media.

5. Privacy issues to grow
   In late 2014 KaKaoTalk introduced Secret Chat, a new kind of chat room that encrypts all communications. The feature seeks to address users’ mounting concerns about privacy and data protection.The privacy storm looks set to continue, as even major players begin to acknowledge the issue. In November 2014, Facebook unveiled a new Privacy Basics page, promising more transparency on the issue of who actually sees what you post, and offering tips on how to remove your name from tagged photos.
   Then there are the anonymous social networks. While Snapchat, Whisper, Secret and others all promise varying degrees of anonymity, it’s common to hear of high-profile breaches and oversights that compromise user information. Real anonymity and privacy on the internet is extremely difficult to achieve. While it’s easy to make promises, it’s nearly impossible to deliver. Nonetheless, demand for anonymous social media will continue to grow throughout the region as users seek new ways to keep their communications from prying eyes.

Author: Ryan Holmes is Chief Executive Officer of Hootsuite.

Image: A man with a smartphone riding on an escalator is reflected in a glass window at a business district in Tokyo February 26, 2015. REUTERS/Yuya Shino