I'M NO VISIONARY, but I have a mobile-fueled lifestyle that qualifies me to offer some predictions for 2010. Regular readers know I update my blog as often from my mobile phone as I do from a desktop. It might not be obvious that I make many decisions while walking and riding, not pointing and clicking at a desk. Given that perspective, I have seen some mobile features emerge that allow me to confidently predict developments in the way people will use mobile devices to enrichen their experience while underway. Location-based services will evolve to entice potential customers into doorways and to convert those visitors into revenue. There are quantifications of these mobile experiences worth reviewing, privacy issues and an evolution in social networking that has already started to occur.
Smart mobile devices will become truly social media livelines. In Ireland, the word "liveline" has a coded meaning. Considering this, I think clever mobiles have machine intelligence that allow them to be smarter than an average Liveline caller. The most clever phones communicate machine-to-machine in the background--there's no need to "call Joe" or to "ring home" to reach an intelligent decision. When I'm walking now, Google Latitude tells others where I am. When I visit places, Foursquare often tells me the address and phone number as I approach the front entrance. When I read newsfeeds on my phone, I can tap different icons to share selected information to different social networks. I'm looking for more ways to pay with my mobile in the year ahead. I've used mobile-powered payments for on-street parking, in-car navigation, over-the-air music downloads, and premium information subscriptions. I think I'd like to use my mobile phone for swipe-and-buy in the shops because I trust the electronic wallet mechanism that's built into my phone already.
Locations will become more intelligent. I expect to use applications on my phone that will automatically append my location to blog posts, Facebook updates, and Foursquare check-ins. At the moment, you can spoof all those things. I expect venues to send me opt-in direct messages on Twitter when I'm within five miles of their location and those messages will arrive on my phone as SMS text messages. As 2010 unfolds, I think Google will add another layer to Latitude, perhaps allowing me to see location-specific comments left by people I'm following. If you had followed my Flickr photo (above left) to seats in Kudos of Limerick, you'd see my Louder Voice review of chicken curry. I'd like to see Foursquare offer layers too, making it possible to see all tips in a post code or all comments left in local venues from the moment I toggle the screen when getting off public transport.
Social Media Measurement Increases Accountability. People I know who understand analytics know how to quantify the number of alerts generated by their brands or business interests. They already know how to track real people as they ask open-ended questions about products, services and events. As their analytical skills increase, these practitioners will refine their use of real-time ambient streams in several trusted social networks. Events organisers will discover competitive advantage in bolting on social objectification tools as part of an event management action plan. Part of those plans will involve enticing capable scribes to run live blogs, live streams, and live microcontent updates during industry events.
Getting a Return on Investment from Social Business. Everyone reading this blog post is involved in social business. Along with several colleagues, I intend to publish a set of guidelines, perhaps called Business Metrics for Social Business, where we correlate actions against standard business rates.
Privacy will continue to erode. People are lazy and they compromise their privacy by being lazy. Even though all sorts of granular controls exist for what they share, many of my friends are careless about passwords and complacent about the casual exchange of information that they post online. This means social search tools will continue to evolve, making easy work of finding out what your friends think about holiday destinations, hardware upgrades, and discretionary purchases.
Online Social Networking has evolved beyond broadcasting what we've had for breakfast.I think social networking has moved several steps up from a web interface. Social networking is now a cohesive experience, distributed across applications that are powered through software as a service. Because of that evolution, I'm no longer bothered by the rants of social media bullies using Twitter as a broadcast medium to their minions. I can connect to activists, makers, and true thought leaders who work in spaces where "belonging" truly matters.
And those are the things I see percolating in my pocket. I'll look back with interest in another 12 months to see if any of the points I raised here enter the mainstream.
