In 2016, technology will change the way we live our lives. With mobile devices dictating much of our experience and attention, apps will play an especially powerful role in the way we interacting with other people and consume information. Social media has dominated much of our interactions over the past few years. Social media trends will change. Whereas traditionally, social media has been about trying to impress people with images and updates, in the future social media will be less superficial. In 2016, social media will be about our own self. Platforms are aiming to connect people through more real, caring relationships, rather than a battle of popularity like you see on Twitter and other well known platforms. One app in particular is trying to address this change directly. Paralign, a new app available on iOS and Android, is changing the way that social media is thought about. Paralign teaches people the powers of journaling, and enables people to connect with others by sharing their feelings. For many, this will be the social networking platform of 2016, or even of the future. Here are a few things to know about social media trends in the future.

1. It won't matter what other people think of you

In the past, with social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, all we cared about was our own image. How people perceived us and judged us was hugely important to our sense of confidence and how content we were. We have cared too much about what other people think, and often posted pictures or status just to impress or please other people. Instant gratification and attention were our main goals. However, in the future social media won't be an experience in which you feel the need to get attention and notice from other people. Right now, social media makes us feel a need to get approval from other people. More than ever before, we feel a need to be recognized and appreciated. The bad news is that much of this recognition and appreciation is superficial and fake. Facebook likes or Twitter shares are not as meaningful as, let's say, actually human interaction. In the future, the goal of social media will be to help you learn how to create that feeling of satisfaction without the need to impress other people through photos or updates. In this same regard, social media won't be as consumed with following friends and celebrities the way it is today. Instead, it will be about following yourself. Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, and all the big social networking apps are about learning more about celebrities and friends and anyone else you are friends with or follow. The current social media platforms involve us in the minutia in other people's' lives, obsessing us with minor details we would have never considered or cared about otherwise. We are constantly flooded with images and status updates. It seems like we think more about the people we follow than about ourselves.

2. The future of social media will be about self-growth and self expression

Self-growth will be a core element of social media in the future. It will become less about superficial statements and attempts to impress people, and more about growing as an individual. The goal of social media should be to better yourself, not just to create the illusion of it. In the past, social media has been synonymous with social advertising. It was about making people notice you, retweeting tweets, liking post, and posting pictures. However, advertising is superficial and in this case doesn't result in anything very positive. Platforms of 2016 will help us become more self aware. It will help us learn about our patterns, and help us become in charge of them. On top of that, social media brands us and denies our right for unfiltered self-expression. Even if social media is meant to be anonymous, it still demands us to register using our email or existing social media log in. Social media should allow you to simply be yourself, and be proud of yourself. With a platform designed to allow people to share ideas, 2016 will invite a new era of connectivity and self-expression. It will become easier than ever for people to genuinely share their feelings and thoughts.

3. It will be about more than just followers