What does the future look like for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? | Blaise Tapp

We are not just saying ta-ra to 2019, we are waving off an entire decade.

If, 30 years ago, you had asked the 12-year-old me what the 2020s would look like, I would’ve painted a vivid picture of holidaying on the moon, shopping 24/7 and never again engaging in proper conversation – unless we wanted to.

Two out of three ain't bad.

The 2010s will surely be remembered as the Polarised Decade; a time when we abandoned reasoned debate and resorted to screaming at anybody who didn’t share our world view.

Smartphones and laptops have allowed the gobby among us to become gobbier while activists and politicians have grabbed social media by the horns and used it to talk directly to the masses.

Of course, it’s not only professional political types who have taken advantage of the power of social media during the past 10 years as it also helped drive the Arab Spring in late 2010.

Who knows where this now established 21st century phenomenon will head in the coming years. Though if you take at face value the people who claim they are on the brink of deleting their Twitter or Facebook accounts, then there is every chance these platforms might die out in the ‘20s.

But if we are going to persevere with social media, is it too much to ask for us all to become a little bit kinder and not rely upon it as our only form of human interaction?

I am pretty sure there would be less anger if we all stopped and spoke to people we didn’ t know, even if it is a fleeting conversation.

Taking the time to find out what makes somebody else tick doesn’t always take that long and you might find that you actually prefer real-life conversations to sharing edgy hashtags with virtual acquaintances.

As each generation advances, so does the technology, but this could be the decade that we decide we want the tide to turn.

It probably won’t happen but we can dream.