Have you ever stopped to count how many ads you see in a day? A discussion post written by one of my peers, Bethany Polland, reminded me about the number of ads that are plastered all over our social feeds. Experts actually estimate that we see 4,000 to 10,000 ads a day! In this discussion post, Bethany had predicted that the amount of ads we will see in the future will only get worse, which got me thinking of another prediction regarding the future of social media – subscriptions!
If you have ever used Spotify, you probably know how annoying their ads can get, especially in the middle of a good playlist! If you’re like me, those ads may have annoyed you so much that you gave in and started paying for Spotify Premium, which lets you listen to music without any interruptions. Youtube has also started a premium subscription service where you pay a monthly fee to watch videos ad-free. However, I haven’t been convinced to pay for this service just yet.
I’m predicting that eventually, other social media platforms will follow suit and start offering paid subscriptions to scroll ad-free. I don’t think they’re ready for this yet though, as I’m not sure that would be a very successful endeavour considering how easy it is to scroll past an advertisement. I think that not only will the number of ads increase as Bethany predicted, but I also think that the way these ads are displayed may change so that users can’t simply scroll by. Something they may implement is a “screen freeze” when an advertisement is displayed so that you have to wait at least 5 seconds before you can scroll again. Time will tell!
Would you pay to scroll through social media ad-free? If so, what platforms would you be willing to pay for?
Facebook: Ads, and ads, and ads…oh my! Will too many ads lead to more subscription-based social media platforms? Read my thoughts here: https://bit.ly/3LJTdGY #thefutureofsocialmedia
Twitter: The Future of Social Media is…Subscriptions? Read my take here: https://bit.ly/3LJTdGY #socialmedia #futuretrends
Algonquin College Social Media Certificate Program 
Great Blog. Yes, I, too, have paid for subscriptions to avoid ads. I upgraded my Spotify and fitness pal to avoid the ads. I have never actually thought about how many more apps will go in this direction, but as you point out, likely there will be more. I have also subscribed to various news publications like the Global Mail, local NewsPaper etc., to view more than the “headlines’ seen on my Twitter or FB feed, and I don’t think I would have had I not seen the preview while scrolling. Very much enjoyed your blog.
Great question. I know these ads are quite annoying. I hate watching TV because of advertising and now we have them everywhere we turn. At this point in my life, I would not pay for it. As annoyed as I am right now, I would not spend the money on it.
Maybe later in my life, and I have my own business and I don’t have time to keep scrolling and just want to get to where I am going to, I would re-look at this issue.
Overall, it really just another money grabber.
I have to agree that I believe a time will come where more and more ads will be popping up as platforms try to ask us for money to avoid the ads. An easy money grab by these businesses however, they must know that it will be painful to their users. I too have bit the bullet and paid for subscriptions to things like Spotify – I love music and simply can’t handle an ad coming on when I’m in the ‘jam’. With that being said, if I’m being honest, I’m quite cheap and I don’t believe I will pay for any subscriptions on social media platforms. I believe if it comes to that it will deter me from participating on those sites any further. I am interested to see how this will evolve as time goes by.
Great post! I know exactly what you mean, I work for a digital marketing company and I’m probably responsible for some of those annoying ads you see all the time. These ads are a good way to get leads as well as a very effective way for companies to get money through advertisers on their platform.