Predictions on Social Media Trends

With the growing popularity of social media, it is conceivable that social networking sites will become more sophisticated, more niche specific, and more integrated. Specifically, some predicted social media trends are listed as follows:

• More televisions will be available through the Internet
  
  As evident in the recent March Madness NCAA Men Basketball Tournament, NCAA and CBS jointly announced the viewing of the games through the NCAA website. Other available sites include Hulu, Boxee, Apple TV and Netflix.


• More companies will establish and enforce a social media policy
  
  In order to protect itself from reduced productivity and increased security risks, a company will have to define specific policies and procedures for governing its employees on the use of social media.
  
• Social media will become more exclusive and less general
  
  New social media will be less general and more niche-based, targeting specific group of audience or special interest groups (sports, jobs, music, etc). User behavior will change as more people will look for quality and efficiency rather than quantity.


• Businesses will leverage social networking tools to satisfy more business areas
  
  Besides marketing and advertising online, companies will use social media for customer support, recruiting and collaborating.
  
• Companies will rely more on web analytics for performance measurements
  
  Besides using web analytics to measure the effectiveness of its websites, business will also use such information to determine how well its staff (or which staff particularly) is supporting its customers and what competitive advantages it has over its competitors. Rating on websites by customers will also be more common.


• Mobile technology will be more integrated with social media
  
  Individuals will be relying on their mobile phones to connect to the web, and perform the internet functions via their mobile devices. The use of traditional emails as communication will become obsolete.


• More content aggregation in social media to improve efficiency
  
  Search engines will return more content and less links, thus reducing the time in locating information. An example is the partnering of Yahoo and Twitter to deliver Yahoo’s content into Twitter’s stream.

With these growing trends in social media, the questions are (1) Will the increased in demand of TV via Internet cause a more serious bandwidth issue? (2) Will the investment cost in social media grow exponentially due to demand for high-power equipment and the need for more secured information?

Sources:
Social Media Band Wagon Image.

Armano, David. "Six Social Media Trends for 2010 - The Conversation - Harvard Business Review." Business Management Ideas - Harvard Business Review Blogs. Web. 12 Apr. 2010.

Cashmore, Pete. "10 Web Trends to Watch in 2010 - CNN.com." CNN.com - Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News. Web. 12 Apr. 2010.

Diaz, Sam. "Yahoo and Twitter Partner to Mesh the Content from Both Worlds Between the Lines ZDNet.com." ZDNet Technology News. 23 Feb. 2010. Web. 12 Apr. 2010.

Tobin, Jim. "5 Predictions on The Future of Social Media Ignite Social Media." Ignite Social Media -- the Original Social Media Agency. 28 July 2008. Web. 12 Apr. 2010.

Beware of Mobile Stalkers...They're on the Loose

Many telecommunication businesses believe that the GPS-enabled phone is a game changer in the wireless phone industry. As early as 2007, mobile social networking already existed, integrated with GPS location awareness programs (such as Buddy Beacon and Rave Guardian) and cut-down versions of social networks (such as Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter). Businesses expect this nifty new gadget to spice up the life of many, especially those under 25. While many embrace this new revolutionary technology with open arms, others fear potential cyberstalking.

Here are some positive and negative aspects of Mososo:

Pros:

• The GPS-enabled phone can pinpoint your location and direct you to places such as famous landmarks, motorway services, restaurants, or other entertainments.

• The whereabouts of your friends can be quickly located, making it easier for you to hang out with them.

• Software like Ubisafe can help parents to track the exact location of their children.
  

• The GPS alert services can help locate an elderly relative in distress quickly.

• A cyberscort service, such as Rave Guardian provided by Rave Wireless, Inc., links to campus police to ensure the safe arrival college students to their destination.

• Location-based services can generate business opportunities through the use of ad marketing.
  

Cons:

• To some, there are privacy concerns since the GPS phone keep tabs of you even while you are asleep and you have no control over who knows where you are (or who is stalking you)

• Being tracked by your friends, boss, or loved ones every minute of the day can be quite annoying.

• Being bombarded by location-based services with targeted ads and updates, and having your phone screen clogged up regularly can be irritating.

• Location awareness posts safety concerns. Pedophiles or identity thieves can hack into the mobile network and locate the whereabouts of you and your family members.

• The software application can be extremely addictive. Youngsters can stay logged into a virtual network, thus losing awareness of the real world.

Two years ago, some people were skeptical of the location awareness program on wireless phones. Today, it is evident that this integration solution is gaining popularity. As an example, back in 2007 mobile social network programs (like Buddy Beacon) were available only on compatible phones. Today, such programs run on multiple wireless carriers and phones. Speaking of which, Campus Police at American University is currently using Rave Guardian as a part of its student safety program.

Well then, if we had food, water (although some may prefer beer), and a GPS-enabled phone that we could text, send photos, watch movies, hound our friends, and locate hot spots (of course transportation and some money would be nice), then what else would we want?

Sources:

Cieslak, Marc. "Rise and Rise of the GPS Mobile." BBC NEWS | News Front Page. 7 Mar. 2008. Web. 10 Feb. 2010.

Goodale, Gloria. "Students' New Best Friend: 'MoSoSo'" The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com. 19 Jan. 2007. Web. 10 Feb. 2010.

Hamilton, Anita. "A Wireless Street Fight - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. 15 Feb. 2007. Web. 10 Feb. 2010.

McCarthy, Caroline. "The Mobile Social: Not Ready for Prime Time?" Technology News - CNET News. 13 Feb. 2008. Web. 10 Feb. 2010.

Samsung Mobile Phone. Digital image. Web. 10 Feb. 2010.