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News, events and analyses

News, events and analyses


10 social media trends for 2009Yesterday

It’s that time of year when pundits, prognosticators and fortune tellers come out of the woodwork. So I jumped on the bandwagon and got out my Tarot cards.

Here are my predictions for 10 social media trends during 2009. Of course, some of these will be wrong. I’ll miss others. But from a general perspective, it’s clear that social media is going to be changing fast. It’ll remain a moving target for marketers, yet an exciting technology for developers and users.

So here are my picks. What are yours?

  1. Twitter will be more fully integrated with mainstream social networks (MySpace, Facebook, etc.)
  2. More Fortune 500 businesses will set up Twitter accounts and C-level blogs
  3. More social networking consolidation tools for one-stop profile and posting management will emerge
  4. Marketers will explore novel approaches to ad strategies on social networks
  5. Advertisers will implement improved tools and metrics to gauge the ROI of social media ad spend
  6. Political campaigns will follow Obama’s model in marketing through social media channels
  7. Multi-media press releases will integrate more fully into social media channels
  8. Advertisers will increase use of viral video as a standard ad strategy
  9. Methods and techniques will evolve to integrate social media experiences into real life
  10. Fortune 500 companies will increasingly adopt internal social media for management efficiency gains
Twittering to the choirYesterday

Quote of the Day, Dec 4, 2008

I know I am preaching to the choir for most people that read this, but I could not resist this tidbit from Shonali Burke, who is recommending Twitter over other resources to track social media happenings. (BTW This excerpt does not do justice to the rest of Shonali’s interview in which she offers great advice about social media strategy for business. Be sure to read the whole article.)

“The resource that I personally find the most valuable in keeping up with social media and all things related is Twitter: I find out about events, new people/thought-leaders to follow and a treasure trove of blog posts and websites every day. Twitter has practically replaced my RSS feed (though I still check that out every few days).”

— Shonali Burke

Social Media Interview Shonali Burke

by Lee Odden



The tangibility of mediaDecember 3

Quote of the Day, Dec 3, 2008

Steve Rubel’s interesting prediction stands in stark contrast to a previous Quote of the Day from James Gleick. Gleick believes that books in particular have stood the test of time and will meet the challenge of digital media. So will books and “tangible media” go extinct, as Rubel predicts? Or will there always be “relevance and value” for such channels, as opined by Gleick? I expect that, as always with such things, the reality will end up somewhere in between. Yes, digital media will come to dominate, but there will still be strong demand for tangible media. There’s something special about holding an object in your hand, whether it’s a book or nicely designed magazine. And there’s the darker side too—the desire to possess and own. It’s harder to fulfill that desire with digital media.

“I want to make a bet with you. I wager that by January 2014 almost all forms of tangible media will be either in sharp decline or completely extinct in the U.S. I am talking about not just print but all tangible forms of media — newspapers, magazines, books, DVDs, boxed software and video games.”


— Steve Rubel

Five Years From Now, Media Will Be Totally Intangible






Top 5 tech gifts under $50December 2

Here are my top picks for technology-related gizmos under $50. Great for stocking stuffers, or just to treat yourself. Go on! (If you don’t see something here, check out our page of social media books.)

 







The Earth is not flatDecember 2

Quote of the Day, Dec 2, 2008

In his book, The World Is Flat, Thomas Friedman argues that globalization eliminates competition between countries, and instead allows different cultures to compete on the same playing field. But by the same token, social media and social networks allow conglomeration of cultures and thought structures. We will tend to glom together with our “tribe” (one of Seth Godin’s metaphors), a tendency facilitated by social technology. Thus the world becomes round and bumpy — much like real life.

To add to Ms. Stirland’s quote below, I paraphrase”social networks and internet toolswill transform the landscape of culture.”

“Andrew Rasiej, TechPresident’s founder, put his view out there in stark relief: Politicians’ growing awareness of the power of social networks and internet tools will transform the business of politics in the same way that the realization that the earth is round transformed the maritime industry.”

— Sarah Lai Stirland

The Obama Campaign: A Great Campaign, Or The Greatest?