Every year, Computerworld asks people in the geek community for their New Year’s predictions. The full article is here.
My responses included:
We will see social networking fatigue, but savvy users will continue to use platforms to build their personal brands. For most people, updating Facebook gets tedious, and your “friends” really don’t care which Hogwarts faculty member you are. Twitter takes a lot of work, although it can be a great personal brand-builder, with enough effort. LinkedIn is improving, mostly because of its Answers section; users can become well-regarded authorities in their subject areas by investing an hour or two per week posting thoughtful questions and responses. Plaxo? Please stop pestering me. You’re too far down my social networking depth chart for me to spend any time with you.
And
While the concept of a social networking guru might seem quaint by 2013 (do you have a photocopier guru in your office?), there is an opportunity in 2010 for people who really understand how to make social networking happen within the enterprise. While there are still a lot of carpetbaggers and “gee-whiz” cheerleaders playing in this market, I still find that there are a lot of people who don’t have a basic understanding of social networking and are reluctant to ask for help.
What are your thoughts? What will 2010 have in store for social networking?
January 6th, 2010 at 10:03 pm
I’m curious to see how the intersection between social networking and government continues to develop. Here is a place where some social network guru-ing could come in handy! At first glance it seems like the time is right for an expansion of government into social networking…promises of transparency, and the need to get a message out before political opponents can fix an idea in the public’s mind, suggest a need for an established network through which information can quickly be sent. However, the government’s social media policies (where they even exist) are typically crafted by people who know that Twitter is something their kids do, but that’s about it. When the military is using Facebook as a key recruiting tool while also suggesting military members not have personal Facebook accounts because they can be exploited by foreign intelligence agents, it sounds like there needs to be greater understanding of the potential implications of this medium.
January 7th, 2010 at 2:35 pm
I think that while 2010 will still bring a surge in participation, the number hyper producers of content on social sites like Twitter, Facebook etc is going to decline. The initial perceived value we all had in the beginning of Twitter and Facebook’s massive growth is trailing off. The downward trends in click through and search volume data for social sites tell a clear story. Bill Tancer’s blog on hitwise has a few telling morsels on the world being Twittered out and there’s a growing number of big players in the social media space that are coming out and admitting that most people aren’t listening (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/01/bullhorns-are-overrated.html). If you want more data on this, I’ve got tons. Shoot me an email.