The Future of Social Media

Glen Allsopp / 3 Comments / September 12th, 2007 / Subscribe via RSS

A recent post from David, titled ‘The Future of Social Networks‘ got me thinking about the subject as a whole and how it might develop in the future. Social Media is certainly not just a buzz word, it’s a movement. People are able to interact freely, share their own thoughts, emotions and are able to connect with others with relative ease.

A Brief Overview

When I first started getting into SEO I started a blog just because somebody told me it would be good for Search Engine rankings as I would have more content to get indexed and the Search Engine spiders would come back more often if I updated it often. That is still true today, but even back then I never envisioned blog’s to become what they have today.

Some of the most popular blogs in the world are written by 1 person, yet these aren’t just the most popular blogs, they are also some of the most popular websites in the world. It’s a new media that people are enjoying as they can get personal with the authors, get live, updated news and they are able to interact with the news however they like.

What’s Next?

While I’m sorry that I have to say I don’t know and don’t have all the answers, it might be helfpul to know that nobody does. Much like we can’t predict whether Google will start focusing more on LSI or whether Yahoo will stop favouring site-wide links, we don’t know how people are going to evolve their interactions online (as a fact).

We can all have our thoughts though and it’s often fun to look back so here’s a few of mine (Feel free to list yours in the comments below):

• Niches will Form. Although there are some very popular niche blogs and forums, I think for Social Networks (as David said) there is going to be a lot of change. You can see this already with the ‘MySpace Scripts’ and ‘Youtube Clones’ that are available to make it easier for people to start their goals of their niche community.
• There will always be something bigger and better. MySpace was flying high this time last year, it looked unstoppable. Now it looks like Facebook is starting to bite away at their dominance and may overtake them in the popularity stakes. General news blogs were doing well (some still are) then Digg / Reddit / Delicious came along where people could vote on their own news and only read what they wanted to read.
• Everything will be more Social. Although it sounds stupid and maybe obvious, I think it’s quite true. Google are starting to list Youtube Videos in their results based on their views and number of comments. Big sites like the BBC are incorporating Social Bookmarking buttons and your average joe is getting online and starting a blog. This is only going to get more common and these activities are only going to become more likely.
• Small Networks will be created. I recently came across this idea from a post over at NCR which intrigued me. Basically it’s the thought of a few individuals getting together and really creating something, whether it be a startup or a group voice, things will happen. It’s all about who can get their content out there to the people that want to read it and get it out there in a style that people enjoy reading / watching / listening.

I’m Probably Wrong, but I’m Not

What I’ve mentioned might not happen, it might not be the future. However, nobody can say what I’ve wrote is wrong because nobody else has the answers. There are no right or wrong answers.

Social Media is just at it’s beginning and its an exciting time to be involved online, what do you think about the future?

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