BackSocial Audio And The Future Of Online Connection
At Twitter, we’re creating the most authentic form of online connection. Whether you’re launching something new or connecting with what’s happening, social audio is here, social audio is growing, and you've an opportunity to meet your audience where they are, in a media environment like nowhere else
PremiumIt’s midnight in Bengaluru, India, where a group of 200 people have been talking online for two hours. 'Hello, can you hear me?' - the tone of conversation sounds like a group of old friends, though these people have never met. This local community of volunteers, 'Namma Team', has come together on Twitter Spaces to support people through the pandemic – with accurate information, hospital beds, oxygen, and medicines.
This is the power of public conversation: it helps us build meaningful relationships, solve common problems, and realise we’re all in this together. And while the importance of online communities isn’t a new phenomenon, it’s only recently that social media has added the layer of meaning that it’s been missing: the human voice.
For many marketers, the rise of social audio has come out of nowhere. To truly understand the potential of social audio for brands, we first need to understand the power of the human voice.
1. THE ANATOMY OF AUDIO
Audio may be social media's fourth coming (after text, photo and video), but it’s the first way we learn to interact as humans. Studies have shown that when we hear someone’s voice, the brain releases oxytocin – the hormone of love, trust, and empathy. This helps explain why we 'talk it out' when we disagree with someone and, more recently, why live audio conversations are surging in popularity.
Audio brings meaning. A challenge for online communication has always been context: the choice and order of words, beliefs and values of the participants, and timing of a post, each affect how text-based information is processed. Emojis have proven to be great contextual clues, but there’s no substitute for the intonation of the human voice, which allows us to listen, better interpret, and empathise with each other.
Audio is easy. As cultural shifts like remote work stretch our capacity to meet in person, audio is built for this future. It’s fast and frictionless; your face and place aren't required; and audio has more bandwidth across the world than video.
Audio is accelerating. By looking at other segments within the audio category, we see a picture of a medium that’s growing exponentially. Meanwhile, voice is finding its way into more parts of our day – from our homes, to our cars, even into our fridges.
So, how did we get here? Twitter’s purpose is to serve the public conversation. But to serve a truly global conversation, we need to provide more ways for people to talk on their terms. We first saw the potential for audio in live broadcasting, and more recently through an experiment with Voice Tweets. Between these ideas, the big picture for live audio conversations emerged with Twitter Spaces. It’s a natural extension of how people have been talking on Twitter for the past 15 years; now, they can bring their conversations to life.
2. THE MOST AUTHENTIC FORM OF ONLINE CONNECTION
With Twitter Spaces, we’re creating the most authentic form of online connection. By facilitating greater empathy and accessibility, we believe live audio conversations can empower people to be their realest and fullest selves.
Each day, we’re seeing new quality follows – defined as people who follow and engage with each other because of Spaces. This validates our key hypothesis about the power of the human voice: it brings a layer of empathy to conversations and facilitates meaningful connection between people. To realise this vision, we’re building Spaces around three basic human needs – Connection, Identity, and Growth.
Connection: It should be easy and safe for people to find their communities, feel heard, and forge connections – whoever and wherever they are in the world. With Spaces, we’ve been very intentional about collaborating with the communities we are designing for. This transparency has created a more authentic and fluid relationship which is extending through into the human experience. Each day, more customers have a conversation in their direct messages thanks to Spaces, which tells us conversations that start in Spaces spread to other formats, and drive deeper connections.
Identity: Once connection is established, people can nurture deeper relationships to develop a sense of belonging and identity where they feel recognised for their value and expertise. We’re seeing growth in conversations around #Astrology, #Skincare, and #Photography, as creators and everyday people set regular times to share their passions, exchange knowledge, and talents.
Growth: The strongest relationships inspire us to be our realest, fullest selves. We want people to feel like they are learning and growing on Twitter – whether their relationships are with a small group of close friends, or with an audience of millions.
As we continue to innovate with Spaces and create the most authentic form of online connection, we’re in turn creating a powerful media environment for our customers to deepen their relationships with their audiences.
3. BRAND CONVERSATION WITHOUT BARRIERS
For marketers, we think of social audio as brand conversation without barriers – the opportunity to listen, learn, and interact with your audiences in real-time dialogue, when they’re in a heightened mindset of connectivity. Whether you’re launching a new offering or connecting with culture, we believe brands that embrace social audio now can build advantages over their competition in three powerful ways: trust, influence, and community.
Trust (Connection): Connection breeds trust. Brands that can relate and create value for their audiences through voice will be seen as more authentic and credible.
Influence (Identity): When we identify with something, we advocate for it. We know 8 out of 10 people on Twitter follow brands, and as more people use audio to share product reviews and feedback, we predict marketers will place an even higher premium on the value of content creators and earned media. Entertainment brands are leading the way and shaping the future of launches on Spaces.
Community (Growth): As more people use Twitter communities to learn and grow, brands will be expected to make greater contributions in exchange for their audience’s time, but the payoffs will also be greater. By reimagining content and experiences in a live audio context, brands can create more authentic connections with their communities over the long term. We see our global content partners as a powerful part of attracting new users to Spaces, and helping brands form a deeper connection with their audiences.
Audio may be social media’s forthcoming, but it’s the first way we learn to interact as humans – and we believe it’s the future of how people will fulfil their relationships online. At Twitter, we’re creating the most authentic form of online connection. And as a marketer, you can seize the opportunity now to test, learn, and develop strategies for this empathy medium. Whether you’re launching something new or connecting with what’s happening, social audio is here, social audio is growing, and you have an opportunity to meet your audience where they are, in a media environment like nowhere else.
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