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Does the world need any more predictions?
January 2nd, 2008 • 4 comments Uncategorized
Tags: 2008, predictions, social media marketing
I decided to start 2008 off right. The first thing I did on arrival in the office (after checking my Twitter feed as per New Year’s Resolutions post) was to read through the various 2008 predictions for technology and social media.
You can find them tagged as “2008predictions” on my del.icio.us page.
So clearly, there’s no shortage of predictions out there, but just for fun, here’s four of my own:
1) Social media will continue to move from computer to mobile devices. This is pretty obvious, except for the fact that most North American marketers haven’t thought much about it yet. The migration will take some time, especially in Canada, which lags most of the developed world in mobile marketing, but 2008 will see some major moves forward.
2) Social networks will understand that not all friends are created equal. Friends, colleagues, family, prospective employers — all are different types of friends with whom I should be able to share different bits of information. Google showed they don’t understand this when they began sharing Google Reader bookmarks with Google Talk contacts. Watch for increased ability to tag friends based on relationships and set privacy settings accordingly.
3) The slowdown will help the entrenched. The U.S. economy is expected to cool in 2008. I don’t think we’ll see the bubble burst the way it did a few years back for dot coms. In fact, I think entrenched players like Facebook and Twitter will continue to see valuations rise. But the slowdown may mean less venture capital for challenger social networks. So I don’t think we’ll see a “new Facebook” in 2008, the way we saw Facebook become the “new MySpace” in 2007. (The caveat here is Google, which has the resources to make itself into the dominant player in any Web sector, either through development or acquisition.)
4) 2008 will see the rise of a better Second Life. Google is already rumoured to be building one. Facebook should too. The fact that these companies are custodians of the so-called social graphs make them well suited to transition into a virtual reality space that could get mass traction.
With more than 15 years of digital communications experience, I've delivered award-winning and sophisticated marketing solutions for Fortune 500 corporations, major government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and household-name consumer brands. I ensure the successful execution of digital and social media business strategies to build profitability and grow market share on behalf of our clients. I stay abreast of relevant new technologies in the Web 2.0/social media space in order to contribute a point of view while remaining focused on ROI to drive the right message to the right people at the right time.
I’ve been working in or around the social media revolution since 2005 and I am grateful to be exploring this new media landscape with com.motion’s clients. As managing director, my role is to guide our clients through the use of new technologies and to provide innovative ways to engage their stakeholders online. Shiny new Web 2.0 toys are great to play with but our recommendations are always strategic and focused on reaching the right people, with the right message across the right channels.
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