Messaging Apps vs. Social Networks: Communication or Content Consumption?

Originally, messaging apps and social networks were developed with a clear purpose: to foster communication. Yet, as they evolved, these platforms began increasingly to host content, eventually leading to a significant pivot towards content consumption.

Today, users often find themselves spending more time scrolling through videos and posts in their news feeds than actually engaging in conversations. This trend has extended to consume a substantial part of their daily routine. What’s driving this shift, and what are the prevailing trends in digital communication?

Content Dynamics in Messaging Apps and Social Networks

The content landscape varies widely across different platforms. Social networks host a mix of groups, channels, and video services, predominantly featuring user-generated content. On the other hand, content in messaging apps usually revolves around informational channels, though these are not universally available across all apps. For instance, WhatsApp, the global frontrunner among messaging apps, is still testing its channels feature. However, in larger platforms, like super apps, channels and blogs are seeing rapid development.

Caroline Doherty, Head of Public Relations at CNV Digital Studio, notes the significant enhancements in user-generated content: “The quality of content, including videos, that users produce has seen remarkable improvement over time. Occasionally, it rivals professional commercial content in diverse formats like video reviews, travel blogs, and more. This synergistic effect continuously elevates the quality of content across social networks.”

The Shift from Communication to Content

Initially, when the content creation wave was just starting, users predominantly used messaging apps for personal interactions—exchanging messages, making calls, and seamlessly integrating these with social media activities like updating news feeds and posting personal updates.

However, as the time spent on reading posts and watching videos increased, these activities began dominating the social network scene, transforming platforms into not just social spaces but also news outlets, information sources, search engines, and business promotion tools.

Vage Zakaryan, Head of Development at Gem Space superapp, reflects on the trend: “Identifying the exact catalyst for this trend is challenging. It could be the innovative features developers introduced that expanded the platforms’ functionalities, or perhaps the active engagement by users themselves that escalated content production to new, sometimes professional, heights. One thing is clear: the growth in content volume and quality is a win-win for both users and platform operators.”

Evolving Public Communication

Despite the proliferation of content, the volume of traditional communication hasn’t diminished; it’s simply morphed into new forms. Today, commenting in groups, engaging in video platform discussions, and daily interactions with strangers online are all par for the course—a far cry from the early days when such interactions were minimal.

Moreover, discussions in messaging apps are increasingly taking place in group chats, whose popularity surges daily. These are not just small gatherings of friends and family; many are large, thematic communities with membership in the thousands.

This landscape indicates that online communication is in a constant state of flux, shaped by the advent of new technologies, platforms, and user needs—even affecting the style of communication, with a noticeable shift towards brevity over traditional long-form messages.

Looking ahead, the trajectory of online communication will undoubtedly continue to evolve. Whether driven by new social networks, emerging formats, or shifts in user behavior, the future of digital interaction will likely be influenced by a confluence of these factors.