User Experience for Social Media Platforms

Is Gen Z preferring LinkedIn over X (Twitter)? Yes, this is becoming true on a global scale, and also here in Japan, we are starting to see this trend clearly. Only five years ago, X (formerly Twitter) practically dominated the social media scene in Japan. It was even considered a crucial "information infrastructure" during disasters. Even the Japanese government and local authorities actively promoted its use among the public. In Japan, X has had a stronger presence than in many other countries. Its short-form content and high level of anonymity were said to fit the typical characteristics of the average Japanese user. However, when I look around today, I can’t help but notice a huge shift in X’s position. X was once a platform loved by younger generations in Japan, but now, many young people are leaving it. I have even met many young individuals who do not have an X account at all. One major reason for this is that X is becoming an increasingly hostile and dangerous place. In Japan, we have seen several tragic incidents related to X. It has become common for large numbers of anonymous users to gang up and attack a single person. Sadly, some young people from Gen Z have even taken their own lives due to the relentless attacks from anonymous X accounts. This phenomenon seems to have accelerated since Elon Musk’s acquisition of X. In the past, the platform’s management took some responsibility for monitoring harmful behavior and improving the situation. But today, many young users feel completely unprotected. The global trend is much clearer. Many studies and statistics show that X’s user base and engagement levels are rapidly declining, particularly among Gen Z. On the other hand, LinkedIn has seen impressive growth in user numbers and business usage. This trend is likely to apply in Japan, where X still holds significant influence for now. Recently, I met a young entrepreneur in Tokyo who declared that he was shifting his primary social media platform from X to LinkedIn. I believe this is a really wise decision. While some may find X addictive, the risks and drawbacks are enormous. If you damage your mental health before establishing your brand, the costs far outweigh any potential benefits. I hope that LinkedIn will continue to support the growth of healthy professional networks in Japan, leading to more positive business activities. And this trend will also increase international connections. I am rather optimistic about seeing more of Gen Z actively using LinkedIn as they navigate the future. This is my hope, but I’m also confident that it’s not far from becoming a reality.

You’re more influenced by the people around you than you think… far more. Social contagion, the process by which emotions, behaviors, and ideas spread through groups, isn’t something that happens only in tight-knit friendships. It happens in workplaces, classrooms, and even through the digital spaces we scroll through daily. Research shows that emotions like happiness and sadness ripple through social networks much like viruses (Rosenquist, Fowler, & Christakis, 2011). In professional settings, behaviors like rudeness or generosity can cascade across entire teams (Foulk et al., 2016). Among students, things like motivation and engagement are surprisingly contagious (Burgess, 2018). And the digital world isn’t exempt. A now-famous Facebook experiment found that users’ emotions could be influenced simply by adjusting the tone of the content they were exposed to (Kramer, Guillory, & Hancock, 2014), without their awareness (ethically questionable). The takeaway is that what surrounds you, both physically and digitally, shapes how you feel, think, and act. Even when you believe you’re making entirely independent decisions, the influence is already at work. So be really conscious of who you’re time with, and how they’re either ‘good’ for you, or not. And if they’re not, try to limit exposure for the sake of your energy, your beliefs, and your motivation. P.S. Would you say you’re aware of who’s really influencing you? Research: Rosenquist, J. N., Fowler, J. H., & Christakis, N. A. (2011). Social network determinants of depression. Molecular Psychiatry, 16, 273–281. Foulk, T. A., Woolum, A. H., & Erez, A. (2016). Catching rudeness is like catching a cold: The contagion effects of low-intensity negative behaviors. Journal of Applied Psych, 101(1), 50–67. Burgess, L. G., Riddell, P. M., Fancourt, A., & Murayama, K. (2018). The influence of social contagion within education: A motivational perspective. Mind, Brain, and Education, 12(4), 164-174. Kramer, A. D. I., Guillory, J. E., & Hancock, J. T. (2014). Experimental evidence of massive-scale emotional contagion through social networks. PNAS, 111(24), 8788–8790.

Big brands have a lot to learn about building community from this small East London shop. If you follow me you know I’m obsessed with pinpointing the places, moments and margins where culture appears, often outside the mainstream. Waste! is an independent store in Hackney specialising in handmade, self-published and DIY artist products that also serves as a meetup for makers and fans of the niche and novel. Big brands can spend millions chasing community. Yet genuine bonds form in the unlikeliest corners. By giving people a place to belong and a stake in the story, you can create evangelists rather than consumers. Here’s some of the playbook: → Look beyond the obvious Which subculture have you never visited? Find the one that aligns with your brand values and surprise them with an IRL activation made just for them. → Host micro-experiences Think smaller than a giant pop-up. Small scale means deeper conversations, stronger friendships and stories that spread far beyond the room. → Invite people behind the scenes Jack and Roydon modelled the shop on their childhood bedrooms. Everything feels handpicked and personal. → Celebrate genuine connections At Waste! customers aren’t just buying things. They swap ideas, share projects and spark new collaborations. Create spaces online or offline where people can connect, chill and feel like insiders. → Reinvest in your community Every penny from sales goes back into buying more stock from friends and local artists. That reinvestment shows you care about real people not just profit margins. → Turn every interaction into a collectible moment Limited-edition patches, secret passwords, custom playlists or tiny zines tie physical mementos to emotional experiences. Superfans will wear, share and trade these badges of honour. → Measure passion not just reach Track repeat attendees, social shout-outs from community insiders and user-generated content. A hundred truly engaged superfans create more long-term value than ten thousand casual followers. Sometimes the best way to build real community is the scrappy, DIY, heartfelt route ✌️💚

I've seen so many posts being shared recognising and celebrating International Day of Persons/ Disabled People. Which is amazing! But sadly the vast majority of the content being shared is inaccessible. A day reflecting on equality and equity, but yet we're creating barriers that Disabled people. It's ironic, on a day of inclusion so many of us are excluded So please, if you are posting make your content accessible! Here are some tips to get you started: Image Description: Content Checklist. Six sections with tips read: 1. Message Body. Write in plain English. Use short paragraphs. Avoid using acronyms and jargon. Left align text where possible. Do not use a font generator, they are inaccessible for screen readers. 2. Images. Add Alt Text. Remember to keep Alt Text short and factual. Add an Image Description. Image Description is more descriptive and includes things like colour, texture, backgrounds etc. Any Text on a graphic or image should have sufficient Colour Contrast. 3. Video. Always use Closed Captions. These should appear at the bottom of a video. Use accessible Sans Serif fonts like Arial, Calibri or Helvetica. Include an audio description to describe what's happening in the video. Always manually check captions. Automated captions aren't always reliable. 4. Emojis & Hashtags. Don't replace words with Emojis. Don't overuse Emojis. Do use Emojis at the end of a sentence. Do use a capital letter for each new word in a hashtag. #camelCase or #PascalCase. 5. Check Colour Contrast here: https://lnkd.in/ecQAWnR4 checker. www.contrastchecker.com. www. userway.org/contrast. https://lnkd.in/exj-tFeV. 6. Add Captions Using:Youtube Online. CapCut Online. Adobe Premier Pro App. MixCaptions App. AutoCap App. Automated Social Media Apps. #DisabilityInclusion #IDPWD #DiversityAndInclusion #Accessibility

Google is no longer the first stop for product discovery. New data from PartnerCentric confirms what many of us in e-commerce already feel happening: TikTok, Pinterest, Reddit, Inc., and Discord are reshaping how people discover, evaluate, and buy products—especially among Gen Z and millennials. Here are the shifts worth paying attention to: 1. 1 in 10 Gen Z shoppers prefer TikTok over Google for finding products 2. 50% of Gen Z use Discord for shopping—often in private, loyalty-driven communities 3. 2/3 of U.S. consumers use Reddit in some form, with younger shoppers turning to it for trusted reviews 4. TikTok Shop users now spend ~$40/month—$50 for millennials And while Google still plays a role, it’s being edged out during the most influential parts of the funnel: discovery and validation. This is the rise of social-first commerce. For brands and marketers, it’s not just about ads—it’s about being part of the conversation where it starts. Your future customers aren’t searching. They’re scrolling, watching, and asking strangers on Reddit.

While mentoring a young founder I noticed something She pulled out her phone to pay for coffee, then showed me her startup's dashboard where 92% of her customer transactions happen digitally. Her suppliers? All on UPI Her credit card? Applied for the day after her first funding closed to build her credit score early She's 24. And she represents exactly what Amazon Pay India Kearney's "How Urban India Pays 2025" report captures: India isn't just going digital. We're fundamentally rethinking how money moves. The numbers are staggering. India's retail digital payments are projected to cross $7 trillion by 2030 The real story: this isn't about tech adoption only, its about behavioral transformation across every demographic What caught my attention: ↳80% of women entrepreneurs now run cashless businesses ↳UPI dominates (34%), followed by cards(20%) & wallets(8%) These aren't convenience choices. They're strategic decisions about financial control and business efficiency. ↳65% of Gen Z professionals applied for credit cards immediately after their first job. ↳Not for impulse purchases, but to manage expenses with a credit line (32%), earn cashback (30%), and build credit scores early (23%). That's financial literacy in action. ↳Small towns are catching up fast ↳Digital payment preference in offline purchases jumped from 42% to 50% in just one year ↳The gap between metro cities (62%) and small towns (50%) is closing faster than anyone predicted ↳The shift I'm seeing in my work: When I mentor fintech teams or advise on payment infrastructure, the conversation has changed Five years ago, we focused on driving adoption Today, we're optimizing for trust, personalization, and seamless experiences across multiple payment modes 61% of users stay loyal to a digital payment method because of convenience But 60% of Gen Z switch platforms regularly, chasing better rewards (33%) or faster transactions (28%) The market needs both stability and innovation Trust remains the foundation. 47% actively assess safety measures before trying new payment methods 45% seek platform trustworthiness Even with widespread acceptance, 36% of cash users cite merchant acceptance issues as their barrier to going fully digital ↳What this means for India's financial future: This isn't just a payments story It's about women taking charge of business finances It's about young professionals building credit profiles from day one It's about tier-2/3 cities leapfrogging traditional banking infra The question isn't whether India is ready to go cashless. It's whether we're building the next layer of financial services that these digitally native, financially savvy users will need next. What's driving your payment choices these days: convenience, rewards, security, or something else entirely? You can read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/gPwWGfxs #AmazonPay #KearneyIndia #HowUrbanIndiaPaysReport #DigitalPayments

From my new Harvard Business Review article, here’s how to create the last of four pillars that innovative organizations need – Innovation Communities: Innovations often happen at intersections, yet many companies lack ways for innovators to connect informally and see where conversations go. This can also make innovation a lonely endeavor. It doesn’t cost much or take a lot of time to provide people with common innovation interests a means to connect and exchange ideas. At the very least, it’ll help keep them motivated. At best, it may trigger new kinds of cross-disciplinary collaborations that open up previously unseen vectors for change. Don’t be Atari, which was abandoned in frustration by an ambitious innovator: Steve Jobs.   What to do instead? Cultivate community. Take the German life sciences company, Bayer. Bayer has created an internal community of 700 innovators around the world who use common resources, join competitions against one another, and nominate local representatives to participate in an annual meeting. These connections then enable discussions about ways to cross-apply methods, business models, and other capabilities that can translate across business units. For instance, the program helped create agricultural finance options that are now offered around the world, stemming in part from an idea that originated in Bayer’s corporate finance and marketing departments in Greece. (How have you built innovation communities? Please share your approaches in the comments!)

Very often, people dream of being part of a community or building a community to help each other and get help from each other. In my experience, great communities are built on these core principles. Most people join a community only expecting something from others not giving. Giving, being transparent and focusing on others interest is the beginning of a great community behavior. Below are five points I consider as important for a start 1. Setting Expectations: The Clarity Protocol Define, don't assume: Clearly articulate shared goals and boundaries upfront to eliminate the ambiguity where mistrust breeds. Transparency is safety: openly communicate limitations and roadmaps; members trust leaders who are honest about what they cannot do as much as what they can. 2. Giving and Taking: The Law of Reciprocity Contribute before consuming: Establish a culture where members offer value—knowledge, support, or resources—before asking for favors. Balance the ledger: specific, public appreciation for contributors creates a cycle of generosity that prevents the community from feeling transactional. 3. Commitments: The Reliability Standard Under-promise and over-deliver: Treat every casual agreement as a binding contract; consistency in small matters proves you can handle big crises. Own the failure: If a commitment is missed, immediate accountability rebuilds trust faster than a valid excuse ever could. 4. Community Over Self: The Stewardship Mindset Serve the mission, not the ego: Decisions must be visibly aligned with the collective good, even when it inconveniences individual leaders or influential members. Sacrifice signals sincerity: When leadership takes a hit to protect the group, it creates an unshakeable bond of loyalty among members. 5. Acting First: The Initiative Catalyst Model the behavior you seek: Do not wait for permission or consensus to do the right thing; be the first to be vulnerable, the first to help, and the first to listen. Courage is contagious: When you act without guaranteeing a return, you signal that the environment is safe, encouraging others to lower their defenses and participate.

🔹 Day 21 – Product Manager Interview Prep Series 🔹 🎯 RCA-Based Question: “Your team just launched a new onboarding flow. Instead of increasing activation, it's led to a spike in churn. How would you analyze and resolve this issue?” 📌 Step-by-Step Breakdown – Root Cause Analysis (RCA) As a PM, your goal is to understand user behavior, pinpoint the friction, and fix the flow without compromising long-term retention. 1️⃣ Clarify the Problem 🔍 Define “churn”: Is it users dropping mid-onboarding? Or completing onboarding but not returning? Ask: -What’s the exact drop-off point in the new flow? -Is the churn immediate (same day) or delayed (after 1–2 days)? -What does churn look like compared to the previous flow? 2️⃣ Quantify & Segment the Impact 📊 Dive deep into analytics: 📈 Timeframe: When was the new flow launched? Sudden spike or gradual rise in churn? 👥 User Segments: Are new users from a particular platform (iOS/Android/Web) churning more? 🌐 Geo/Cohort Analysis: Are certain regions, age groups, or acquisition channels seeing higher churn? 🧪 AB Testing: Compare churn between users on old vs. new flows (if test is live). 3️⃣ Identify Potential Root Causes 🧠 UX/UI Issues: -Too many steps or confusing layout? -New permission asks too early (e.g., location, notifications)? -Value not shown quickly enough? 🔧 Technical Issues: -App crashes, lags, or slow load times? -Broken API, failed calls, or validation errors? 🧭 Psychological Friction: Users feeling overwhelmed or not understanding the benefits? High cognitive load in first interaction? 4️⃣ Talk to Stakeholders & Users 👂 User Feedback: - Session recordings (Hotjar/FullStory) - User interviews or feedback surveys - App store reviews post-launch 🤝 Internal Teams: - Engineering: Check for bugs, crashes, error logs. - Design: Walk through usability testing insights. - Data Science: Get funnel drop-off visualization. 5️⃣ Suggest Short-Term & Long-Term Improvements 🛠 Short-Term Fixes: - Roll back the most friction-heavy step. - Add in-line help or tooltips at high drop-off points. - Highlight core product value earlier. 🚀 Long-Term Initiatives: - Redesign onboarding based on user mental models. - Introduce progressive disclosure – don’t show everything at once. - Run usability tests before full rollout. 6️⃣ Measure Success Track: ✅ Increase in activation rate 📉 Drop in onboarding churn 🧠 User comprehension (measured via surveys or task success rate) 🎯 Retention metrics over Day 1, Day 7, Day 30 🔁 PM Mindset Tip: Onboarding is your first impression. Make it intuitive, not intimidating. Test thoroughly, talk to real users, and iterate until value is delivered with clarity and ease. 💬 How would YOU debug a broken onboarding flow? Let’s brainstorm in the comments 👇 #ProductManagement #PMInterview #RootCauseAnalysis #Onboarding #UserChurn #UserExperience #LinkedInDaily #ActivationStrategy #ProductDesign #LinkedInNewsIndia

Most brands are obsessing over Instagram reels and stories to reach Gen Z. The budget, the creators, the campaigns, everything goes there. But Indian Gen Z is telling us something different. 79 percent use YouTube and Google daily. When forced to pick just one platform for an entire year, they choose YouTube over everything else. They're not just watching for entertainment. They're researching before buying anything. 👉 93 percent of Gen Z feel confident about purchases after watching YouTube content. They trust creators there more than influencers on other platforms. The shopping behavior has completely shifted: 83 percent have bought products directly through Instagram, and a significant portion of Gen Z discover products through YouTube content 71 percent prefer YouTube Shorts for product discovery over other short video platforms. Real examples show this working. ➜ Reliance Digital ran impactful YouTube campaigns during Durga Puja, resulting in increased brand engagement and visibility ➜ Hyundai Motor Company leveraged YouTube livestreams for their SUV launch, attracting millions of views and boosting showroom interest Indian Gen Z controls 860 billion dollars in household spending today. By 2035, that becomes 2 trillion dollars. Trust in celebrity endorsements among Gen Z has declined significantly too, with many preferring authentic peer reviews and relatable influencer content. Brands keep pouring money into flashy Instagram campaigns while Gen Z is on YouTube learning, researching, and making actual buying decisions. Where is your marketing budget actually going?