The Future Of Communication In 2020

In the year 2020, some familiar forms of communication that predate writing, such as voice and images, will play a significant role. Of course, visuals and voices have evolved since conversational cave paintings. In the future, our visuals will appear not on cave walls but on mobile screens and our voice commands will be processed through AI (Artificial Intelligence). We already see the rise of video from trends to expect in 2018, but can we understand the communication trends of 2020? Yes.

Facebook IQ has launched the new “Shifts for 2020”. Here are some recently gathered stats that will help us understand the outlook of 2020:

Comprehension

The average attention span is said to now be shorter than that of a goldfish
In News Feed, people consume a given piece of content faster on mobile than on a computer
People spend an average of 1.7 seconds looking at a given piece of content.
Younger people scroll 2x faster than older generations
People can recall content after seeing it for just 0.25 seconds

Video

By 2020, over 75% of the world's mobile data traffic will be video
Among people surveyed across the UAE and UK 71% say their online video viewing has increased over the past year
People are 1.5x more likely to watch video daily on a smartphone than on a computer.
Millennials are 1.35x more likely than older generations to say they find it easier to focus when watching videos on mobile
Among people surveyed in the US, 30%of mobile shoppers say video is the best medium for discovering new products

Going Live

Daily watch time for Facebook Live broadcasts grew 4x over the course of a year
On Facebook 1 in 5 videos is now a live broadcast
On Messenger people played 1.5 billion Instant Games together in the first 90 days of 2017

Virtual Reality (VR)