Long before I stumbled upon the phrase “context collapse,” I witnessed the paradigm shift of younger users abandoning social media stalwarts like Facebook or Twitter for, at the time, smaller, more “artisanal” platforms like Instagram and Snapchat. Facebook soon became the site used to check-in with your parents or post an important announcement like a pregnancy or new home.
What caused the exodus? Was it just the typical lifecycle of a social media site, and Facebook was going the way of Friendster and Myspace? I don’t believe so.