Whitespace: The socially networked life of us: 2014

Issue 49: May 2009

Social networking has reached its tipping point: Grandmothers are on Facebook. Twitter is mandatory for every self-respecting celebrity from Arnold Schwarzenegger to Richard Branson. And co-workers are now more likely to discuss YouTube videos around the water cooler last night's hit TV show.

According to social networking pioneer Mark Zuckerberg, if Facebook was a country, it would be the eighth most populated place in the world, just ahead of Japan and Russia. But just how big can the phenomenon become? And what will be its fate in five years time from now: superseded, rejected or omnipresent?

Social networking guru Charlene Li of Forrester Research argues the case for an omnipresent future. She believes social networking will become like 'air' – a ubiquitous part of every day life that's so common we don't even notice it.

To help you understand how future consumers will use these content sharing tools well before their projected ubiquity, this month's Whitespace examines five trends that are currently shaping the nascent social networking landscape.

One profile for all your social networking

Most of us are familiar with password fatigue – the angst of continually having to learn new passwords to use different secure websites. A similar sort of fatigue currently is happening with social networking identities.

But this issue will soon be a thing of the past according to web forecasters like Forrester's Li who believes social media users will have 'universal identities' within the next five years.

Universal identities users will have the same profile, preferences and passwords on Facebook as they do on sites like Flickr, LinkedIn or Twitter; the paradigm also allows content to be synchronised and aggregated across different websites. 

Social media gets smart

Computer applications that make decisions without the direct involvement of their user are destined will have an impact on the social media landscape within the next five years.

According to web strategist Jason Falls, 'smart applications' will track our every click, every keystroke and maybe even every eye movement to offer better search results and navigation experiences.

For example, a social networking smart apps might watch who you interact with via email or voice calls and, based on an intimate knowledge of your behaviour, automatically decide whether they are online friend material before adding people to your network.

These apps will also offer intuitive content suggestions.

Say you develop an interest in cross-country cycling; social network apps would autonomously filter online content on friends with the same interest while ignoring information about previous hobbies.

Entering the ratings game

One of the most significant benefits of social media for marketers isn't the ability to talk at consumers, but to listen to them.

As social PR commentator Brian Solis says: "Thanks to social media, brands are becoming more focused on customer service, whether it's through listening to feedback, crowdsourcing innovation or just responding to inquiries."

A good point, but it's important to understand that different social media users have differing levels of influence within their network.

To help both marketers and social media users understand online spheres of influence, Li predicts a number of ratings systems that measure the influence of individual social media users will emerge.

A number of ratings systems are already in use to measure the power of blogs; similar measures for individual social network users are a local next step.

Digital word of mouth

It's not uncommon for people to be either highly amused or even offended by the suggestions offered by social media sites. A commonly mentioned issue is Facebook's serving up of links to dating websites to people who have listed themselves as being in a relationship.

Commentators say online marketers need to realise is that the hit and miss approach of mass media marketing doesn't work for social media. Broadcast has been transcended; in its place is a dialogue in which other people reviews of brands are matched next to your own.

This process will be handled by a 'smart' app that works behind the scenes to offer up reviews from within your network that are relevant to your own interest areas. 

The results will then be delivered in a form that's most convenient to you at the time – for example, an email that's delivered out of work hours, or a voice message if you're driving and your smart app thinks you might be bored.

Brace yourself for a familiar change

In five years time it's likely that social media will be infused with some degree of artificial intelligence. Social media may also be central to every tech gadget we use and be carried in some form with us wherever go.

It may sound like a revolution, but really these changes are evolutionary.

The real opportunities for brands in five years will be the same as they are right now: the ability to listen to social network users and respond accordingly as opposed to blasting them with homogeneous mass media messages.

Whitespace is published monthly by the Australian Institute of Management - Qld & NT. Sign up to have a copy sent direct to your mailbox.