Monday 9 January 2012
The Future of the Social Network
How will social networking continue to change people’s lives?
SOCIAL WORLD
Social media will become such an integral part of every element of our lives that the term itself will disappear. It will become part of a whole range of technologies – desktop software, internet banking, even the thermostat in our hotel room. Every decision we make and activity we do could become social – we already see it with playing music on Spotify on Facebook or going for a run and sharing our progress online.
We’ll start to look at what our friends have done before we do a whole range of activities, from ordering in a restaurant to watching a TV programme. As Dennis Crowley, co-founder and CEO of Foursquare, puts it: “Just about everything is more interesting when you realise how your friends are connected to it.”
SOCIAL TELEVISION
Commenting online while watching a TV show has already become an important part of some people’s TV experience. The relationship between television and social media is only set to grow further. TV news programmes already use social media to alert people to breaking news and then gauge reaction. TV shows are also experimenting with live chats as they interview people on screen.
“It creates a social experience in which both the host and the viewers were able to chat with one another during the segment,” explains Karina Alvela of PRForSmallBusinesses.com. With YouTube looking at how to better present itself on TV screens, and Apple TV making its mark, we’ll soon reach a point where we turn on a TV show and see that “20 of your friends are watching now”.
SOCIAL SHOPPING
The phenomenon of commenting on and reviewing products and services online is already very influential when people buy on the internet. Companies will soon start to use social media to enable you to see what your friends have said about their products or services, building customer loyalty and trust in the process.
“Brands will learn how to put the personal before the profit, and in turn will actually generate a profit via social media,” explains Heather Lopez, owner of The Mom Entrepreneur. The shopping experience could become entirely social – from researching a product to the customer posting photos or video using the product.
Companies will also use information gathered from social media to present certain products to you in a certain way. You’ll even be able to buy stuff within social sites – with no need to head to an external website.
SOCIAL SEARCH
Social media will become increasingly clever at getting to know everything we wish to search for on the internet. Whether its news, recipes or beauty tips you’re looking for, as your networks and interactions grow social media will be able to present it to you before you even look for it.
While this may give some people concern about privacy, it does allow the individual to control what information is presented to them. Demand for streamlined and tailored information will increase as the internet suffers from information overload.
“Discoverability and the import of editorial curation will not be lost, but rather incorporated for richer and more customized experiences," says Dae Mellencamp, CEO of Vimeo
SOCIAL EARNING
The opportunities to earn money via social media will become more varied as it grows in use. Small businesses already use social sites to reach out to local communities and generate business, while individuals are also benefiting – YouTube is now sharing revenue with prolific users.
We’re also already seeing companies forgo a website completely in favour of a Facebook page. New social platform Chime.in, meanwhile, is promising to share advertising revenue with its users. “I think there will be more pressure from social media users to ask for a share of the revenue,” says Manny Otiko, VP, social and new media at Desmond & Louis.
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