Facebook Instant and Snapchat lead the race for people’s attention.

After the death of traffic, the void is replaced by instant news.

News is delivered faster and in larger numbers than ever before. Users don’t want to wait, or even click. How is the media industry adapting to catch their attention? Facebook Instant and Snapchat.

The Death of traffic Social networks like Facebook and Twitter have reinvented the way we consume information, its speed, and even its format. News that we used to get at our doorstep every morning, we now get instantly on our mobile phones. In Latin America, close to 194 million users access the internet through their smartphones, and 68% of them use their device to read the news. According to ComScore, it is also the region with the highest social media consumption in hours: 8.67 on average. As users, we want instant access to the content that we find interesting or entertaining. The “old” concept of typing a URL on the browser has become obsolete. What we are looking for is right in our Facebook and Twitter feeds, without having to “click”. This tendency towards “The end of traffic”, implies that media companies may soon measure and monetize their content very differently. The view is the new click (monetization), the like or share provides reach to an audience hooked to checking their smartphone over 20 times per day. All of them have the same ultimate goal: to draw attention right now, before new content takes over. Instant attention Snapchat and Facebook Instant are leading this trend allowing us to consume news instantly. Snapchat has grown to about 100 million active users in just 4 years in the market, of which 45% are between 18 and 24 years old. Other social networks such as Facebook and Twitter have less than 20% of their audience in this age range. This new platform captured the attention of teens all over the world. Attractive titles, engaging images and content that is easy to read is what millennials are looking for. These are the three elements that make Snapchat a trend that can be synthesized in one concept: instant. Brands want to reach the Millennial audience and SnapChat's visual and instantly expiring content make it an attractive medium. The “Discover” section of the app allows news outlets live CNN, Yahoo, VICE and National Geographic among others, to share daily content without even leaving the application. For the next US Presidential Elections, Snapchat is planning to include journalists and politics bloggers in the team to cover the event and get younger people to participate. Live coverage for events is a huge trend in which Snapchat fits perfectly. Following the “no need leave the platform” trend, Facebook has reached an agreement with 5 media giants so their news lives there and users can consume it without going to another site. The Facebook Instant format is inspired on Snapchat’s immediacy and its tendency to strike agreements between content creators and social media. The selling point is, once again speed: according to Facebook, articles will load 10 times faster than usual and will be optimized for smartphones. Instant gives content creators liberty as far as length and format is concerned. They can also integrate Google Analytics or other traffic tracking codes. The conclusion is that millennials want everything instantly at the tip of their fingers, and social media is listening. New platforms and old ones are evolving, inspired by the lifestyle of the younger generations to not only create content and information, but also apps where they can interact with brands, events and friends in real-time.