# Social Media, Quo Vadis? Prospective Development and Implications
## 5 Discussion  
### Striking Results and Implications of the Findings  
The experts (somewhat) agreed with 38 of the 50 projections, which can be considered as a high acceptance rate. However, a full acceptance was not strived for as several projections were formulated in a rather provocative way or contradicted each other. They help to verify that not all projections get blind acceptance but are carefully considered and evaluated. The scattering of almost all projections is a satisfying IQR of 1 or even 0. The IQR was reduced for 15 projections from the first to the second round. Considering that many projections already had an IQR of 0, the group consensus was already high in the first round and further increased in the second round. Only for a few projections, the IQR still was 2, indicating a lower consensus than for most projections and therefore some uncertainty among the panel members. For example, in Section 1 (interactive technology), it is no surprise that the statements about the olfactory (Projection 4) and gustatory sense (Projection 5) were rejected. Lots of fantasy is needed to imagine devices that can produce many different smells and tastes, and it is doubtful if many customers are interested in such experiences, also because these senses play a subordinate role in our everyday lives, compared to seeing and hearing. However, these ideas are not completely absurd, as shown by only a partial (median 3) rather than complete disagreement. It can be assumed that five to ten years are just not seen as enough time to digitize these sensory experiences. The same is true for thought-based interaction. The feasibility of myoelectric or mind-controlled prostheses has already been proven, and it is conceivable that such technologies might diversify into other fields. Therefore, it is understandable that as many as 44% of the experts (somewhat) agreed to the projection. However, also here, the question is not only what technology can offer but also what consumers accept. A majority might have strong reservations about the risk that the software could also read thoughts that are not to be disclosed. One respondent commented that the negation of his projection \"is likely due to emotional and cultural barriers as it may be perceived as an invasion of privacy\". This could explain why the experts changed their opinion towards rejection of this projection from the first to the second round. A comparably high scattering (IQR = 2) appeared for Projection 8, indicating that the experts show less consensus than for the other projections regarding the statement that users will not recognize the difference between bots and human beings when interacting on social media platforms. The advancement of interactive technologies suggests that users get even more immersed in social media in the future. This increased immersion does not only regard the time commitment but also the physical and mental proximity. At some point, the distance between reality and social media might become so small that the risk of excessive social media use and addiction as well as a loss of reality could arise. Public health experts and policy makers might have to address the dilemma between short-term individual wants and long-term human and societal needs and find adequate solutions [148]. In Section 2, Projection 14 about the unification is the only projection which received full rejection. Considering the different focuses current social media have and the competitive situation between platform operators, it is very unlikely that only one platform will exist to the end of the next decade. From the first to the second round, the rejection of this projection increased. One participant gave a clear reason for the rejection of that thesis in a comment: \"in a free market, there will never be a unified platform\". Also, the opposite, the de-monopolization (Projection 15) of market-dominating platform operators or their strict regulation (Projection 20), is not seen as likely.