One of the beautiful things about social media in this day in age is the notion that there are very few barriers to entry, especially with the vast and dynamic start-up culture and gig economy that has been so prevalent for the last decade or so. When I start to analyze the Kik app, it feels like a throwback to the simpler times of myspace and AOL Instant messenger. The days where chat rooms created the anonymity that allowed users to freely be themselves with little repercussions that affect them in the real world. As Seth stated in his post about the Gartner’s hype cycle that can be found at https://thesgblog.video.blog/2019/02/28/kik-is-climbing-the-slope/ he mentioned that the Kik app is currently climbing the slope, and since 2009 has been a smaller force in the game of social media channels. I think about the integration of Kik versus that of Snapchat or Instagram where there are multiple different functional attributes, where as Kik’s platform is much more simplified and began from the need to message from different devices. I also see a couple threats that could be causing the app to remain rather stagnant in it’s life cycle. The integration between real life and social media accounts have been more focused on self-promotion rather than just simplified messaging with strangers. This could also lead parents to not allow their children to use the platform, due to fear of online predators. With recent news about the MOMO challenge where someone hacked Youtube videos for children and placed a disturbing image of a woman with directions telling the children to run with knives or even commit suicide, the online community worldwide is tightening the reins. Many social media platforms like Facebook and even Instagram focus more on basing a user’s following off of people in their immediate social network versus interacting with strangers online, but also altering and framing their own image to fit a certain look or agenda. The days of chatrooms seems rather obsolete, but there is still a market for those who would rather stay behind a screen and keep the anonymous factor due to social complexity and or stigma. Many children developing their communication styles reach out to chat rooms out of curiosity, which in a way opens up a whole new can of worms when analyzing threats in the immediate environment. I believe if Kik wants to continue to be profitable, it will need to integrate more aspects into their platform, such as video sharing or even partner with another small scale channel to fine tune their target market, which then will they be able to fully understand the niche they are trying to capture.
Marti is a current senior marketing major at Georgia State University with plans of graduating in May. She enjoys art, traveling, and live music.
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Generation Z Marketing 