9 Predictions for 2010
Where were you when we welcomed the new millennium? It seems quite quaint to look back at that moment and remember our fears. Computerized technology would fail everywhere as it would not be able to adapt and recognize the arrival of the new century. Fast forward ten years and our online lives have changed beyond all recognition. We may not be worrying about the millennium bug when the clocks tick over shortly (although some of us may now be anticipating 2012) but we do anticipate an even more exciting new era as web and technological development gathers even more pace.
What will the new year bring? Here are some peeks into the blogtrepreneur crystal ball:
Location tools proliferate within social networks.
Although privacy concerns continue to be heard in the background, an increasing number of applications will prompt us to reveal our exact location to our friends and followers. These apps have been somewhat slow to catch on so far but as instantaneous, real-time social communications becomes more refined, GPS location tracking through our smartphones is close behind.
Social media will birth business media.
There will be a delineation between widespread office or business use of social networking and a dedicated, similar set of initiatives specifically for the business environment. As Twitter continues to fail to define its true potential and as businesses demand more focused options, commerce will provide social media type platforms for its exclusive use.
Apps will finally make sense of Twitter
If Twitter is to survive as a tool of any value, it must make more sense and present a more usable platform from a commercial perspective. How much longer the network can survive without displaying a meaningful business model is questionable. Application developers have been the savior already. In 2010 they will truly come to the rescue and re-position Twitter in the nick of time.
Microsoft Wave will arrive, but it won’t be a tsunami.
It’s been in beta mode endlessly, but it should break out and splash on the beach anytime soon. In 2010 Google’s new toy will further integrate multiple forms of communication. How long will it be before we only have one real social network, which incorporates all our other playthings. How much longer will we put up with having to automatically update Facebook with our Twitter status, show our Twitter feed on our blog and tag back and forth ad infinitum.
Facebook falls over itself one too many times and stunts its meteoric growth.
Facebook fails to listen to its users time and again and in 2010 this level of dismissal will combine with some game changing missteps. The novelty of it all will start to wear off as Facebook is seen as more of a mainstream activity and the platform will finally find its natural level.
Mobile net will flourish
As we now have some great hardware, good packaging, balanced operating systems and an accepting public we can expect mobile Internet to take hold. Dot mobi sites will enable us to interact with our phones without a constant flurry of pinching and scrolling. Mobile e-commerce may not be too far behind.
Outsourcing and virtual assistance will boom
Efficiency has been a byword of 2009 and it will be embedded in the psyche for 2010. Organizations must be super efficient in everything they do and there will likely be a considerable shift toward outsourcing and the adoption of virtual assistant services. “Just in time” delivery without added overhead will be expected.
Black hat continues to die and great content drives a thirst for education
Internet marketing will finally transition from “smoke and mirrors” and black or gray hat activities, as the thirst for web-based knowledge knows no bounds. Increasingly smart search engine algorithms accelerate the demise of junk websites and pages, as good content is at a premium.
Design technology and SEO catch up with each other.
Traditional methods of search engine optimization tend to favor the static approach. Flash-based websites will soon be able to deliver a great user experience and be viewed as meaningful, searchable, deep, indexable and rich.
Your predictions?
Adam Toren
