More Social than Media. Let’s analyze Social Media’s cultural impact for 2010 and beyond

 

Social Media has grown, not just as a single website, a mobile app, but something cool to “do”.  Even those reluctant on sharing info or engage the online world, facebook has made a cultural impact on us all.  From personal use for social interaction to business marketing as a channel to this online world, social media is here!  Is it here to stay?  All signs point to yes, as we have been driven to gain a social benefit through web interaction.  The folks who deemed the internet as a mere fad, are now using it for info seeking and watching the world connect to a network.  Why is it so popular?  The web is a fancy place. We get so much info here and have an ideal that any or every question can be found here.  Now with our friends there, the art of web socializing is getting creative.  Twitter help to spawn this growth as texting from phone moved to web based twitter msgs (140 characters).  I bet this recruited some into reading more, yet maybe spelling more horribly, lol.  I know I read much more than years before the social media boom.

Social media should be called a digital social system, lol.  Like an eco-system, it is interconnected and self-driven.  Facebook has cleverly used ways to keep us talking to our friends, even though the individualistic attitudes of the last half of century has many creating private lives and less social.  Facebook has opened us back up… to log in multiple times a week and check the status of others, whether it’s to be nosey or we genuinely care is debatable.  Think of how many times you’ve heard someone say “Did you see the post on my facebook wall” or how about an argument that started from facebook gossip.  How about jobs firing you for talking negative about them, or an organization doing a background check including social media sites?  It is growing extra interesting.

Social media will not fade away any time soon.  The rate of increase will even out, but with its current impact, it looks to gain ground.  The biggest issue I fear is the miscalculating of the online population, the foolish wars between companies like this is a gold rush, and any errors in leading us to a digitally social world.  I see how Zynga, an popular online gaming company on social media sites, aims to keep users busy, active, and growing.  They have the actual key to the future as their strategies seem to be created by the best of marketing experts, psychologist, sociologist, anthropologist, whatever… the company is great.  The reward of benefits for use is enough to keep growth high.  I expect Zynga to do well in upcoming years, even better than facebook.  Another major threat is if we finally find something cooler than all these tech toys and quick info searches.  If our reality is not better than the digital world, everyone will be there… and that leads me to another post in due time, entitled “Augmented Reality”.

What’s next?  Well, look at Twitter… they are becoming disappointing.  They have new changes in play, but seem to lose their grasp on who they wanna be (position).  These changes are happening too slow as facebook and google have hundreds of ideas they slowly perfect into their gameplan.  Their corporate visions are incredible and look to take over the web as well as entertain their constituents and fans.

Google Me is set to launch, but I do not believe it will be a facebook “killer”.  I think it will be a new clever tool for info seeking and interacting socially (sharing, bookmarking, etc)  Facebook will act as their database of users, an online DMV and social club. Google is a powerhouse, and it has not been successful in understanding the depth of social media.  It has it hands in everything, such as cars, to electricity, but very effective in software and my new interest, geo-location. (Social Media + Maps + Mobile + Software= future)

Google will find ways to entertain and empower those who use the web with skill.  They look to brand as “thee internet” not just a subculutre of the web.  It is spreading to active users like, students, business, web developers, and common users who search for anything from recipes, weather, to travel info.  Watch out newspapers and broadcast media!  As Facebook aims to adds website plugins and widgets, it gains ground by expanding to other areas of the web.  If a company can successfully become useful worldwide, it will have a chance to compete with Google.  For the meantime, we will just have fun in little places to visit on the web, until our own lives become as entertaining as the web and its fantasies.

 

 

Technology of 2010: Go Mobile? Facebook Ads? Droid X? Xbox Kinect? Read to know more!

I decided to give everyone a new post as technology seems to be moving at a fast pace.  I barely have time to write as I ride the Tech wave to new heights, but felt I need to document & cover a few points.

Let’s start with Apple.

CEO Steve Jobs has been bragging and criticizing other top tech companies for awhile now.  With the launch of the iPhone 4, the backlash could double as the phone has problems with its antenna.

Fans of Apple have backed Mr. Jobs, but now see his cockiness may create gaffes which could ultimately hurt the brand.  With the release of the iPad, things seemed promising.  Apple taunts others and even tells Adobe (in so many words) Your just not cool as us.  The CEO seems to play “God of Technology” and attempts to create “standards” or “platforms”, yet they are always isolated in private, premium-like products.  Apple is usually the king of quality. Yet, we have seen from iPad’s specifications and the lastest flop of iPhone quality, and this may be another concern in recent decesions.  It’s hard to compete in modern times as a luxury brand as the economy will give less purchasing power.  Steve Jobs decided to offer a $500 product to hold off HP, showoff new ideas, & add on to the OS from iPhone, iPod.   So will they maintain or ever be better than giants such as, Google, Microsoft, HP, etc?

Let me state some great facts.  Google is the best, lol, that’s a fact.

They have the power to do anything they want… not just electronics or web.  Google is king of the web & maybe sharing the crown with social networking site, Facebook.  But nonetheless, Google has a grip on gmail, geolocation maps, cell phones (G1), mobile tech/apps (DROID X), and small projects like Google Wave, Buzz, Reader.  Matterfact, this is just a handful compared to other services that really have potential, so I say Google’s “width” in product development is extreme.  Personally, no one can “compete” with Google & I stand to place bets, lol.  Anyhow, Droid X is different from Droid (produced by Google “Android”).  Droid X is aligned to take some shaky iPhone users to the Google world since the Apple antenna problems.  People love it.  Google has aggressively challenged the electronic giants as a relatively new guy.  Google specializes in the web, yet still has cutting edge technology that matches the skills of other web corporations.  They are king of the web, offering plenty services free where they actually could charge $1 and buy the rest of the internet world with the profits.  Google’s advertising is the profit generator which is now threatened by Facebook’s growth.  Facebook is now the number 1 thing to do on the web says recent reports.

Google must see Facebook coming in the same back door toward the top of the web.

There is even rumor that Google is preparing to launch something just as powerful as Facebook.   They want something that is as socially connected as Facebook and if Google can find the right way to “stay in-touch with web user’s needs”… then Google can shake down the giant social site.   We’ll have to see, as much attention seems to be in competing in the mobile marketing.

Which leads us to Microsoft who seems slow to gain ground.  I actually liked the “Kin” model of cell phones, which included social streams & other sharing features. Their success lies with XBOX360

Microsoft seems to have attention in video games as XBOX plans a launch of “Kinect” ( a wireless controller where the body is actual controller).   This new launch seems to catch the game leader, Nintendo.  Wii’s innovation is now matched and may have a nice impact this holiday season.   PS3 has introduced a similar Wii controller to stop the Nintendo competition.  Nintendo’s new 3DS is a new approach to the 3D craze in media entertainment.  Kids love it and if 3D comes to the Wii, all ages will enjoy it.

What’s Next in the Tech world takeover?  How about geo-location maps combined with social networking features, How about more augmented reality, visual enhancements, or computers in autos?

I like the new idea of 3D on home TV entertainment centers as the movie theaters seems growing demand.  I see the 3D glasses for home use can cost $200 or as cheap as $50 with a luxurious offer.  3D is a hit and needs to be everywhere, just do the study and make sure it doesn’t mess up my ‘everday vision’ lol.  Nintendo introduces 3D handheld devices, so the crazy should stir even more demand.  Geo Location is a smash in the underground and hopes to become mainstream soon. Google Maps has been finding more ways to integrate status updates with GPS positions. This could track your friends, find local businesses, virtual site-seeing, or calculating distances.  It’s pretty cool to me, but i wonder if the privacy will be an issue as this debate always splits the crowd.  Facebook has tried to make people more open to public sharing, but there’s resistance. Maybe when Facebook collides with this geo-location tracker or map, then people will want to join a growing trend to be “publicized”. All these features and devices seem to impact our culture as the change is rapid and young generation adopt as its been here for centuries.  Innovation will increase & hopefully we will have better ways of doing things as well as safe, healthy, & trustworthy “device” in our life.   Thanks for reading my blog,

Kres Thomas

Elucid Marketing Group – CEO & Founder

Roller Social – Creative Director

@4NorthCarolina – Social Media Marketing Director

Elucid Marketing’s DayDream of 2009 to Present to Future: Social Media Impacts the World and Could Change Local Communities!

Elucid Marketing has celebrated their 1 year anniversary in the business world.  The year went fast, but the tech world moved at the same speed, so a wild ride ensued for Elucid, yet fun and rewarding.

Elucid consist of the creative strategies of CEO Kres Thomas, a graphic designer, a news junkie, trendy nerd, kinda guy.   Kres has proven to give a new meanings to social media marketing, as each social media project’s results are better than the last.  From artwork to creating a logo or brand, then target marketing users within a related field, and lastly, engaging these users to supply valuable resources; this what makes him special.  The Elucid team embraces this center point, to build supporting strategies and eye the future of social media and web technologies.  In plain English, Kres  & the Elucid team is like a basketball team, like a new harlem globetrotters, lol, loves to entertain with tricks of the trade, draw massive crowds, & win the game!

Let’s discuss some of the tricks in social media, since Facebook is becoming the dominating online activity beyond search, and Twitter has become a household term, connecting anyone to friends, family, or even ur favorite celeb’s life.  The Reality TV shows were a precursor to this social media boom, as we all love being nosey & compare our life.  Websites consist of uploaded photos/videos and include text that is frequently updated.  This user-generated, social content is the “meat” of most websites today & tommorrow.  From old school forums and comment boxes, to new age chatrooms, texting, tweets, and status updates, we use technology more frequently to communicate.  Elucid aims to use this for business marketing functions and create a private project that includes the favorites of social networking, media, and entertaining news sites today!

Elucid enjoyed the “real-time” updates, so much in May 2009, we dedicated this to our future research and planning.  Our investment was into social media and it’s impact on businesses. We learned it was a new platform for friends & family, like a new phone invention, making a new “channel” to communicate and fast!  The growth rate of Twitter was remarkable, so we customized an @Elucid profile and started to reach out to others in social media.   We documented what we found and shared this to others, hoping to spur the growth of Twitter and social media interests.  Each month we would get someone interested in helping or getting help for their own projects.  We noticed Bloggers liked how social media increased website traffic.  Some small business owners wanted to find customers, like real estate agents for leads, contractors, or small service providers.  The funny part was news companies were skeptical and some still are, as most printed items are read online.  Most are scared of the change as only the most innovative will survive.  The rug was swept under these news corporation’s feet… and the rug was the advertising industry which Google revolutionized.  Follow that car!

Newspaper companies also fear the “free”, digital age that is killing their printing revenues.  The have always incorporated a business model to pay for the hardwork of journalist & photographers, selling advertising slots and a lousy 50 cents – a dollar and change, newspaper.  There needs to be a business model; there is not one developed secure or great enough to save the industry.  Maybe the industry will shape itself, but there’s risk in someone loosing out bigtime! (probably not the tech guys)   That bring’s us back to Elucid, where innovation and strategy is key to survival in modern business. It’s competitive and flooded in most industries, compared to years ago.  Anything can happen in a changing world, from economic structure to social and behavior aspects with new technology.  Anything can happen in business, so traditions & policies must be molded around how flexible a company is, like instant competitive strategies, rather than long-term expectation from yesteryear.  Measuring how fast they can adapt to a competitor’s new product is a good indicator of how profitable they will be.  Can they develop the next revolutionary feature or product or know what the other guys are inventing?!  A good tech company is made from this clever character, such as Adobe.  Apple iPads have cut out Adobe’s hardwork (by eliminating Flash Player) even though Abobe is a longtime champion of web software ( from FLASH/acrobat reader/photoshop/even tweetdeck!).   Adobe took this in stride, amazingly so.  They must have something creative up their sleeve and can manage to think out the box to stay afloat.  We’ll see if they can actually do this.  (many developers are not ready for this great leap started by Apple)

Innovation for the newspaper company must happen soon!  More and more people are reporting news better than the journalist. Regular users post updates and messages,  in “real-time” (like right now, and now!). This is done in the heart of action, during or after hurricanes, earthquakes, acts of violence, or other “caught-on-tape” footage, making everyone a reporter!  Social media is part of our life and if it grows further, it can change many more industries and fields as it already has.  If our households and lifestyle includes this technology, slowing the use of print, TV, or even reality!  Last year, doctors tweeted surgeries and lawsuits have included tweets as evidence.  Today we can’t resist posting our lives in a reality show-like way and more people are becoming addicted faster than research can prove it.  We have every long lost friends at our fingertips and our favorite family members to share photos with.  We like it so much, we occasionally accept our favorite businesses & celebrities, too!  Elucid aims to make everyone a celebrity who is talented at their work.  This is by design and strategy, creating a viral approach to launching brands!

The changing techniques of Marketing is interesting:  from the design, the call for action, the benefit announced, but most importantly the communication between the consumer and company.  Social media is perfect for this, as a business can be personified and informative, 24/7 accessible!   The communication channel is open, we have the power to broadcast media!  Elucid encourages small biz to announce weekly sales ads, occasional promos, contest, or updates.  Social media marketing is becoming the cheapest way to communicate as well as advertise. This is more necessary in this hurting US economy.   Why isn’t everyone or businesses doing it?  They don’t understand it, would be our guess, not to be judgemental, they may see more liability from not knowing how to control or manage it.  But the benefits are too great  NOT do it, so we say learn it ASAP.   Some fear they would hurt their brand by not knowing how to run a marketing campaign or interact with the users … it may be more liability if your moderator says the wrong thing, gives a quacky opinion, or defends your brand wrong on a thread.   There are social media companies that manage accounts, but few trust them with their brand’s image.  Elucid Marketing creates trust with clients by providing an outline and research of their market.  This can be done by existing reports or launch of new marketing materials (surveys, questionaires, coupons) that could track progress of marketing efforts.  We like describing the psychology of their consumers, and then targeting ways to supply benefit through added value services.  “Technology is pretty cheap, you just have to learn how to use it!” was our 2009 quote that pops up often.  People want more & free. Consumers are spoiled, yet it makes a biz work hard to impress them (lower prices or more features)  The best things in life are free, so added with Elucid’s innovation, we keep a small biz or their customers satisfied.  Try updating you social network with a  free inspirational quote or something of value that cost nothing.  If you find a deal, sale, clearance, share it! Everyone will follow you like you dropped money and they scooping it up!  Elucid encourages adding benefits in all kinds of ways (we love to hold contests)

Kres Thomas has described “online branding” in meetings as, “An ongoing commercial, a sitcom of your brand,  entertaining with your charisma”.   He directs Elucid’s vision in helping “new eyes” remember “your secret sauce”  by brand image, identity, awareness, and inclusion.  Kres still feels he can dominate a whole town or small city with one color, shape/object, or catchy jingle.  Other have tamed his energy and gave him insight on how some brands are built from the inside out ( a collection of what consumers like or accustomed of knowing).  Elucid loves discussing trendy news, online buzz, and even search related keywords.  We find out what people cling to and make that clinch tighter!  People love trends (news to celebs) or they love self-empowerment (learning, experience, creating).   Elucid uses this as their bread & butter, but is working on a full course meal after studying how to combine this (And more stuff, but we cant give away all the intellectual property, lol) .  The power of organizing people and communicating to a group is extraordinary and the way to do it is social media.  The team that knows how and can help is Elucid Marketing Group.

Elucid has took more notice to how people are affected by social media & this new technology, rather than just business alone.  Business is changing and it’s a rough ride until technology sorts our the mess, chosing teams & beginning a new era in our lives.  Kres Thomas is very engaged into sociology, psychology, anthropology and ways to help communities become stable or economically grow.  This bring a more humanitarian side to Elucid,  and currently our strategies are to organize online communities for positive changes through information sharing, social support groups, to business development.   Elucid Marketing has based several projects in their headquarters in Fayetteville, NC which includes the website  FayToday.com which includes social media content about the area.  Its services include Youtube, Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, & Google.  These are linked together in a menu toolbar at the bottom of the page, where collections of Fayetteville media content is available as well as a “LIKE” button & “Tweet from site” formbox.   This social network has been based on Facebook and currently hosts 2,250 users  (Fayetteville population <200,ooo, so we’re proud and hope to grow, yet stay effective).  The FayToday profile also host two fan pages, one for Fayetteville news (aggregated web links) and another for Fayetteville Business News (gives biz info on city programs, education, & startup advice).

These profiles have actively engaged other businesses, city leaders, politicians, students, and military families.  Elucid Supports FayToday’s efforts in impacting the community in a positive way, by info sharing and economic development via tech and web services.   We feel all residents should have the power to know… to know of free resources, their lifestyle options, the business changes that are possible & available in Fayetteville, NC.  FayToday’s drive may later create an organization into a non-profit or community event planning group.  Social media could impact social change and FayToday has a positive and informative network.  Fayetteville is sometimes judged as a high crime and small isolated town, but actually it has great investments brewing from increased military to construction projects in 2010.  Obama’s ReInvestement Act Monies (sry, 4got name) will help out as well as the new 30,000 troops that are becoming stationed in the city soon.  FayToday could help these positive changes to amplify success of a growing southern community.   Thanks for reading and stay tuned for updates!

Nintendo prepares for Apple war. What about the other tech giants, Google, Microsoft, or even Sony?

Does Nintendo really want war or is there a real threat by Apple?  Nintendo is crazy and probably just pulling our leg.  Yeah their profits dropped, but still one of the best consoles out there.  I think Sony could handle Apple on the gaming alone. Nintendo is just slow because of economy and the flood of other gadgets and devices out there.  Let’s move on to the nitty gritty!

Apple is just all talk, since they are rich and respected. They will have to battle all the tech giants out there and I will bet on Google anyday, in any tech field, not just consumer electronics. Apple is just getting to know the web like it should. Microsoft has lost touch with the web, but gaining ground in recent years, after Yahoo, Bing, and Live upgrades. Apple iPad is a game changing device, but not a representation of the entire market. The device is cheap and goes against their longtime quality streak, didn’t the Mercedes Benz brandname do this and loose with a cheap model and lost marketshare.

I think Google will enter mobile markets well, even though Sprint & Verizon doesn’t want the Nexus ONE. Apple better prepare for HP, and their “LABS” of innovation… even though i havent been impressed with the slate, they still are managed well at times. With Apple starting their own marketplace and trying to monopolize apps & media distribution, they are setting up for failure. They are too cocky and the gamers are programmers as well, who will not allow the entrance in the industry easy.

Nintendo is preparing for war, but shouldn’t be threatened yet, unless they have some secrets we don’t know about. Xbox is coming out with “FLUID” or “Project Natal” …which is like the Wii. I would worry about that as Sony doesn’t have the depth as Nintendo or Microsoft. Sony has quality electronics & tried taking a shot at Microsoft with new Linux supported OS inside consoles. Sony must create new devices, not just upgrade existing ones.

AMAZING XBOX for 2010

Apple will probably do something dumb, like make a console instead of just stick to computers. Can they replace the flash based ones that they’re killing with their marketplace? Microsoft should rebuild their software, OS, but doing a great job entering social media, mobile phones/OS, and keeping steady ground in most their ventures.

Nintendo DSI & 3d will grow and the new black Wii, will be attractive. Mario will always live on, who else is better, old sonic? Nintendo is in position to establish a web community and have the basic interface that kids will learn & enjoy. A land of Mii characters to Netflix movies, there is good changes coming, more than they speak of. And loved a recent article where it said “maybe Nintendo should make a mobile device” lol I don’t think they are ready, but maybe Sony is. Sony was scared when iPod touch launched games, with motion sensors. They probably have a strategy for it. Thanks for reading, I share at elucidmarketing.wordpress.com on a blog from time to time.

Elucid Media
elucidmarketing@gmail.com

NINTENDO 3D Preview Video

Facebook Shifts to 5th gear on info highway, Watch out Google! The Web Race continues in 2010!

Facebook has stepped up their position on the web and I don’t know if everyone really knows the impact. With the scare of paying for facebook, situating privacy policies, addiction of games, and app development, the momentum has been building.  Recent reports show the social networking site is the most visited, most accessed, and most active, surpassing Google search and Youtube video browsing.  This feat puts them number one, without all the trophies, lights, and first place ribbons.  We all learned this, and just shrugged it, like “interesting!”.  However, with recent launch of new features in the last few days, I’ve come to the conclusion that Facebook is in a super position to takeover.  The new features include eliminating “Fan Pages”, and simply refer to them as “Likes”.  Why? Look at myspace, they’re music related and commonly have fans.   Looks like facebook has realized myspace is no match and have became a new platform of its own.  The “Like” button is popular, it’s quick and easy way to give an opinion as self expression is growingly popular.

Facebook has also launched the collaboration of this “Like” feature with everyone’s profile, listing interest and activities as active links. Now the “info section” tab has active links to pages.  Now lets talk about these pages, which is the reason I decided to do a blog post.  These pages are powerful as they give more detail of our common interests. We would usually search for a Page or Group, but now, this pages are listed as interest in our info section. The layout has changed as well, giving us more organization and want to fill out personal info.  The company stated their goal was for everyone to use their ‘real identity’ and connect with friends.  This now give facebook a first class ticket into our own real lives as we embrace the technology and ‘fun’ with social networking so quickly.  So now with our real interest listed in profiles, these new pages will instantly be accessible and exposed to our networks.   The gives the old fan pages power, to grow and connect others fast.

The reason its so important is because this is the basis of advertising.  Grouping people creates instant ‘markets’, which is powerful for businesses.  I expect eCommerce, online marketers, and new media advertising to start incorporating facebook even more.  Businesses with “pages” can gather “Likes” and stay posted with a link in the user’s profile, which may be exposed to hundreds or thousands of their friends.  And lastly, there is a secret sauce about this Like button.  As we now enter more personal info from the new profile editing, our interest are automatically suggest to a keyword which creates the link (to fb pages).  Now this link is not only to fb pages, but gives information about what it actually is.  It extracts wikipedia, gives data of how many people ‘Like’ it too, and even shows recent post about the topic (from friends & globally).   I recently added social media as one of my interest and it features a gray icon, as implying a general keyword. It also new with only 300 people there, no wall present, and a tab of strictly wikipedia info about the topic.  This is reinventing the web.  We are now given power to do everything from ‘inside facebook’.  It gives search engine power as well as info seeking power.  Add this our everyday life portrayed on a social networking website.  It has become the center of a web universe.

Google, the advertising kings, managed to make a cool algorithm for a search engine and brand their name on nearly every website on the net, is an amzing feat. Google is battling other giants to really even have a shot at regaining it’s throne, but I think their profits will grow even by not being “so popular”.  Google is now in smartphone business, competing with Apple who is growing as well.  Google has Microsoft making a comeback and Yahoo who is lingering but could always get a second boost (i like underdogs).  I like Adobe as well, but Apple is cutting them out, hindering their growth and opportune.  Google will most likely take more marketshare in consumer electronics, Microsoft will put out more phones and focus on software, and Apple will build a web marketplace.  How about Ning and Yahoo join teams or Gaming companies make more gaming devices or online web markets.  We’ll see!

My other eye is on Ning.com who recently is gonna stop their free services and charge users. The company has invoked a now or never strategy, but seems promising with their growing interest in web apps and empowering user to create their own networks.   The stats show majority of Ning’s traffic is from some superstar profiles, which may not mind paying money after the successful from the platform.  I don’t know how the numbers pan out, but they should make some money to stay around for another launch of a feature or press release.

The newest conferences indicate a notion of “augmented reality” which is basically making the real world, virtual to an extent.  Imagine binoculars that zoomed into an object and then a pop up displayed a wiki page to describe it.  Or how about taking a picture with your cell phone and getting the longitude and latitude.  These are big projects in the future, but more recently we see technology invited into our lifestyle, daily routine, and providing info as in learning and communication as well.   Virtual world here we come and my  bet is through more apps, first mobile and maybe small devices like ipad & similar.

UPDATE:::  FACEBOOK INTERVIEW!

SOCIAL MEDIA STATISTICS

click to enlarge

Check out NEWS on Social Media that we recommend:

• How Facebook’s Newest Feature Could Change the Internet Atlantic Online

   

• 
  

  Apple Fires Back at Adobe in Flash Fiasco

   

• PlayStation to Stream Pro Baseball New York Times
• FCC remains mum on broadband reclassification CNET
• ARM boss pours cold water on Apple bid rumours after shares soar The Guardian
• Microsoft Connects Office To Facebook InformationWeek
• Google acquires startup Agnilux, stirs Android tablet rumors
• Facebook Accounts for 41% of Social Web Traffic Softpedia
• Facebook? Twitter? Microsoft tops social media use-survey

Great links for learning:

• mashable.com
• techcrunch.com
• engadget.com
• gizmodo.com
• readwriteweb.com
• net.tutsplus.com
• http://elucidmarketing.com/learn-social-media.html

Daydreaming of the Future of Web Technologies: A Google Matrix?

Yeah, I have been reading every blog I can to get a glimpse of the future.  Tech Crunch, Engadget, & even news aggregators are my friend in this journey to discover future trends and lifestyle changes caused by tech advancements.   I’ve saw Yahoo and Microsoft making moves as Google shadows Apple with a team of tech guru’s.  Yahoo is interested in Geo-Tagging or knowing where users are located by GPS.  Sounds normal until you mix the fact that advertising runs most the web and social networking has an undeniable force in future technologies.  With this said, your friends have the ability to track you if you want or you can walk into the local Wal-mart and instantly know what’s on sale.  Or even walk into a restaurant and your cell phone recieves a message about the poor rating of that shop.  This leads us to Microsoft (their best friend since short merger contract developed).  Microsoft has been exploring a “bar code-like” software program that links your cell phone camera to recognize Microsofts custom bar code.  The code is a 2d, weird looking image, and when scanned, it pulls details about the code.

So now imagine a cereal box that has this code above the original UPC.  You scan it with your phone and the nutritional facts are displayed on your iPhone.  A current program is educational related, whereas students can tag things on an adventure of learning with help of sponsored schools.  This tagging may be interesting in the future, if everyone embraces the MS code.

See the Tags within the Advert?

Bill Gates has also been eyeing Google Map functions such as StreetView, but they allow search of an object within the 360 images of a specific location.  This allows a person to get information about the location, building, business, and more, just from clicking on it within the “Street View” map.  With all these features, we are looking at the Matrix movie even more closer as it mirrors some future trends.  If every item has data attached to it, then knowledge of items will be much more availabe, businesses will have to try harder to satisfy consumers, and could lead to many more devices or software to encourage this growth.

We have a large part of society that loves learning new info and others who love the visual side of things.  This drives video game makers to push the boundaries and web companies to eye every device that displays data.  Google has played in every arena and becoming successful in establishing a new browser (chrome), a new smartphone with Apps Technology, and social networking tool (Google Wave) …plus many more that’s just sitting in their vault waiting to compete.  Apple is a solid company, but faces it’s toughest challenges yet.  They picked on Microsoft when they were doing bad, now have a swarm of people trying to off the giant.  Verizon vs ATT is not any help, Google is mad they reject a great App, and Microsoft is on every playing field it created.

Watch out Apple!  I read an article of Steve Jobs getting upset, even calling Adobe, lazy.  This is the future, the battle of the tech/info giants as well as the devices/connections that support them.  We’ll see how long it is before we live in a Google Matrix, tagging every item we know to receive instant search results for product description, support, or rating.  Have fun!

******* VIEW MICROSOFT TAG :  Video & ways to create your own!

2010 The Year of Social Media & Networking for Everyone!

Social networking has grown up… into its adolescent years, as 2009 claims victorious for major sites such as Twitter and Facebook.  The cultural impact of Twitter is undeniable, with mentions on many sitcoms, talk shows, and now even used in News articles.  The digital connection between friends and family on facebook is huge, creating interest by businesses, consumer electronics industry, and cell phone users.

Personally,  I have been tracking the progress intensely in the last year and love the capabilities of using social networking.  It’s great for business, generating leads, finding similar business owners, and viewing the current gossip from your target market.  We now can hear your conscious thinking as many are addicted to sending status updates throughout the day.  Last March, celebrities created this obsession, empowering users to detail their own life through text.  So what’s next?  Well, have you checked your blackberry or iPhone lately?  Your phone address book could instantly become updated with your friends facebook page or twitter account.  Depending on your phone or the app installed, your phone will be become more engaged into social networking.  Smartphones are growing to connect each person with the web, especially through apps, whether iPhone, Blackberry, or the new Android phones powered by Google.  Apple and Google are battling in an App War and Microsoft is in the mix, but probably glad someone is helping to destroy Apple.  If this is even possible, Google & Microsoft have a good grip on 2010, from cellular markets to software & electronics.  I can’t wait to see the competition, it brings users more features & benefits!

As Google Search starts to include Tweets & Facebook pages within search engine results, SEO has changed greatly. The mysterious formula to get high rankings has changed from a few variables that were manipulated before, into a complex understanding of each webpage.  No more meta tags! The Google bot reads a page, locating what famous sites are linking you, so having a twitter page actually helps.  Listing your Twitter feed (widget) on your front page is a great idea.  What else helps your rank?  The bot reads your “alt tags” for images or even links, as this helps identify the content.  If your website has relevant material about your industry, services, or products, then it will appear to be valuable in the search engine.  The age of a website was once considered important, but nowadays, we aim for real-time results, like status updates and the newest news break.   Try searching Google and clicking “show options” and find sites updated in the last week, year, etc or limit the number of shopping sites, news sites, etc.  This is what users are playing with, so keep this in mind when establishing yourself online.

Social networking is powerful. It’s a invitation for conversation, not only because the fad of having an online profile is growing, but because its convenient and fast.  When the trend dies down, we will start worrying about privacy and creating more closed networks, but for now, it’s fun!  It’s actually putting the social in the networking, as I can’t get enough of nerdy friends to make convo & learn quicker.  I find social networking much better than sending faxes, email, postal mail, or even in person, convincing a secretary to let me talk to the big man.  Now, I just find their twitter account and send a joke, proposal, & my contact info within 140 characters, yea, I’m getting that good!  The big man probably has a few dozen of tweets a day, but since I’m in the tech industry, most likely he’s infactuated with the growth as well.  Use it, don’t abuse it, twitter and facebook are now very effective.

Back to social media.  What’s the difference? Well, networking refers to just having a friends list. It doesn’tmatter from where, even though websites are currently in the lead, cell phones may have an unknown competitive advantage.  Just joining is fun, but when you add content to your network, then you’re speaking social media.  This includes pics, video, web links, and other things stored as files on your computer.  Sharing these is important to many social sites.  Just think of Youtube, the same design on every page, but entire site is created by user’s upload of videos. They are automatically created into a super site, this is called user generated content.  We have seem to forget the term Web2.0 which was commonly used to describe this, but find some graphic designers using it as a term for adding 3d or reflection to button images.

Now let’s talk the future!  Social networking sites are gearing up to empower web developers.  Learning how to develop websites and Apps is now becoming complicated, but rewarding.  I guarantee if you start to learn how to develop an Android App today, then you’ll be investing into a profitable skill.  Apps are selling like crazy, from $2 – $10, or even free, if you’re trying to get your brand name out there.  Now imagining starting a Android Twitter account, posting links of what you learn & search online, then selling your apps to the twitter audience.  You could even manage your updates on Facebook and ask twitter to join you there.  You can tweet from facebook or myspace now, or even check these on your cell phone 24hrs a day.  This is the marketing effect of social media.  Now each social networking site has a developer section to share ways to make the site even better.  Nerds are frantically helping spawn this episode of social developer fever… and i like it!  Try using the Facebook FBML, a new language as easy as HTML to let user login to your site & display their info.  Twitter API looks good with php, curl, etc, and myspace is coming along in recent months to open up to coders.

There is too much going on, yes, sad to say. Every tech junkie is battling to become the next standard platform or help out to get recognition.  Large corporations are the ones making the big moves. The little guys are smart… as well as have a chance for fame, but probably will sell out to the big guys for the right amount of money, yea, I would too!  The skill of forming strategies and being innovative is the vital key, not the silly websites & software we’re addicted too, knowing how to create this at any minute (with available resources).  Things will change so rapidly, that some developers are not willing to ride this rodeo.   Something new could crumble your new online startup or shatter the dreamy project your worked on.   Being “able to learn, quickly” is the asset most valuable.  The goal should include becoming a “trendy nerd,” not just an inventor, and I guarantee you will survive, lol  don’t take me so literal

Google wave has came and went, or has it? It’s not popular, for sure, but it’s innovation is remarkable and ahead of it’s time.  To put it short and sweet, Google wave is Microsoft Word empowered status updates, with amazing social networking capabilities.  And if you know MS Word, formatting your text as well as integrating web elements is lovely to a designer.  I’m not sure if Google will manage to keep interest in this as I would imagine MS would simply find ways in networking its word processor files.  The key at innovation is making sure everyone catches on quickly, look at twitter & facebook lingering for years.  That’s why I like viral marketing, causing a reaction that forces users to tell more users and spread over social networks.  A great web idea in 2010 can not be overlooked as more of the public is online, waiting to be entertained & empowered.  For developers, I suggest learning ways to create social networks, link devices, compliment life & our daily routines.  Make sure you have a great graphic designer to appeal with simplicity and a programmer that can allow users to have fun, share, store, & read in different languages.  And most of all, marketing & advertising.  You can spend all your money on Google ads, or you can just “shine online”.  Attract the attention of noisemakers and large fanbases, such as media sites, high traffic blogs, or groups and organizations.   Things that are trending in the news and humanitarian will always catch someone attention.

As everyone is linked to the web now through cell phones, netbooks, pc’s, video games, and more, the tech revolution begins. It starts with social networking, leads to social media, and will end with a cultural impact that allows devices and its data to become involved within our every move.  I feel we just aim to become virtual, we love doing everything we already do, but with a device.  We can even do more at a faster rate. I just worry how will it effect us socially as a cultural impact, sounds cute, but could bring more than we bargained.  For now, have fun, tweet, post, and share your media.  With the recession, social media kept us entertained, there is a God!

Try these sites for 2010:

http://newstimeline.googlelabs.com/

http://analytics.google.com

Buzzom.com

Mashable.com

Facebook.com/developers

Ning.com

Look out for these hot products in 2010:

3D HDTV Big Screens for $2000-8000, with 3d glasses costing $50-$100

Nintendo Wii with Netflix on demand

Android Apps

Google Nexus Phone

Microsoft Word finally gets a new release!

ADOBE

Facebook complimentary sites

Social Media’s impact continues, but expect big changes for 2010!

Facebook acquires FriendFeed.  Twitter launches new homepage design.

Myspace buys iLike. Google battles Microsoft and Apple. Social Media on the Rise!!

With all the news over the summer, much anticipated, social media is transforming.  With the celebrity craze over twitter and the more abundance of mobile device producing media content, online interaction is growing.  Even small business is eyeing the market and trying to connect with potential customers over the world wide web.  Some say, social media is a must have, especially for companies looking to brand with web users or target the youth that participate online.  The problem is, nobody really know how to and strategies are unknown or barely documented. You must find articles, visit some of the best social media sites, and even read blogs like this to get another aspect to make some anaylitical assumptions yourself.  It’s growing too fast! lol

Some claim to be social media guru’s and most aren’t, but some are.  The computer programmers and longtime web users who have created profiles for the last 5-10 years, has an edge over the rest.  I’ve seen some clever tricks when implementing social media.  The top social media sites offer API or you can say, a link to their database to allow webmaster to create some nifty sites.  I like twitterholic.com that organizes this data to rank users by region, its pretty good for networking too.  Other great sites like twitterfall.com or buzzom.com offer great features to search each tweet for keywords.

Facebook has API’s as well, with great apps like games, quizzes, or mini fan sites to engage users.  Best thing about these apps, is that anyone that learns the coding can do it, and great ones have a viral effect, reaching thousands.  In the news, facebook has acquired another social media site, FriendFeed.com, which offers a super connection between all your social media sites.  It allows one text message to simultaneous post on others like twitter and facebook, even blog rss feeds.  Friendfeed is similar to twitter but aggregates all into one, and facebook will enjoy using the 12 or so guys over there to enhance their search engine of status updates and more.  This merger signalled the beginning of the social media race to gather users into a market big enough to advertise.  It usually leads to big financial support from venture firms.  Twitter is huge, but looses money each year to operate, however, its impact could be great, which give it leverage in company value.  Facebook is rumored to start selling stocks, similar to how Google offered IPOs years ago that put them as one of the biggest companies online.  Facebook is gathering a strategy on how to use the money which is rumored to be in the billions.  Personally, I don’t think they know what to do with it, just like other companies that are trying to maintain their empire, but mostly collect money from advertising.

Google is great because it has its hand in every cookie jar there is.  I heard they were try to build cars as well, lol.  Google is competing with Yahoo who has just recieved a deal with Microsoft.  Microsoft want a peice of the action and looks to dominate shortly, in a smooth kinda way.  They launched Bing.com which is similar to Google search engine, then Google is making it Document Apps to compete with MS Word.  Google has even stepped on Apple’s toes by producing cell phones, the Android G1 Tmobile, and launching Google Voice, which allows users to have one phone number for all their lines and plenty of free features like texting & voicemail.  Apple’s best friend, AT&T, probably doesn’t like it, and this is why Apple has hesitated having it readily available to iPhone users.  Google has been so frustrated with this, the FCC has stepped in and demanded some answers from Apple.  Apple finally released a statement, saying they haven’t completely rejected the Google Voice App, but need to review as it will impact their services.

The race continues with these corporation seeking dominance in online social networks, whether online or mobile device.  Expect a big impact from Google as they have been at this for a while, have the funding, and research all day with eager nerds in labs, ready to takeover the world, well web, lol.  Google with offer the Google Wave social networking tool soon and Myspace has recently acquired iLike music applications company.  Not nothing big for myspace, but enough to make noise and let competition know they are innovative and have strategy too. And as the iPhones and new smartphones arise, we will be seeing a explosion from multiple industries.  The intersection will include companies from advertising, cellular service providers, news media sources, consumer electronic producers, computer giants, and a host of corporate brands who see this technology growing into something big.  In my dreams, I’ve seen Nokia laptops, HP phones, New Age Google Software, a Microsoft in every Car! just dreams, lol.  I’m riding the social media transformation like a wave and hope to get ahead of it, to not just surf the web, but to have a big boat to group all my friends together. *pun  Thanks for reading, more to come!