January: Time for talking verticals »

January: Time for talking verticals

January 14th, 2008

Happy New Year everyone!

So….. it seems there’s a lot of predictions flying around as to how social media will develop in 2008, Bah! The truth is, no-one has really cracked it yet. Social media, lets not forget is all about being social right?

People are so hung up on how to make money out of it immediately, they’re missing the bigger picture of what this is all about….. Sharing. You need to really understand how communities interact and what you can really offer that will give value to both them and you.

So, in terms of growth this year, my stab is that it will be technology and sector reliant as people start to verticalise (is that a word?!) not only their friends but also how they use and interact with social media. Now this is handy as i’m speaking on two such topics this month; mobile and travel.

I have to admit. I’ve avoided mobile web for years as the experience has been too lethargic and non-engaging due to speed/data restriction and walled garden browsers. However i think this could be the year of the mobile due to two things: iPhone (obviously) and social networks. The iPhone has changed the game in mobile web experience massively, utilising the safari browser we’re all used to, wi-fi and a decent size screen. Add to this a new generation of social networks that are location-based and you can now be truly social and catch up with friends in the same vicinity when you’re out and about. What am i on about? Check out loopt to see what i mean. I’ve also been using facebook mobile for a while now and am finding it very useful, especially for micro-blogging so it’s taken over from Twitter for me! I’ll be covering this and other things at the Mobile Search conference this Thursday the 17th January over at BSG House in London.

Next week, Travel and Social Media in Austria. More on that and snowboarding later….

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