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19-10-2010
The top three digital trends to look out for
For those that thought they were just getting their head around the complex web of social media platforms, communications and jargon, the goal posts are about to move slightly to the left. Again.
With this in mind, here is what we think are the top three digital trends to look out for over the next 12 months.
1. Web 3.0
It’s not so much a matter of if, but when, for the next dawn of the world wide web.
1.0 gave us words and pictures, 2.0 gave us networks and interactivity and 3.0 promises to deliver something on a whole new level.
The concept is the semantic web which, stripped back to its most basic function, involves making the internet understandable by computers.
Historically, the internet and its vast mine of information has been designed to be read by humans, with technology acting as a mere platform for us to access to the content. Through a process called metatagging, machines can now ‘see’ the content on the web and understand it. For those that like sci-fi, it’s almost a form of artificial intelligence!
The repercussions of this seemingly small change on social media have the potential to be huge. Computers will have the ability to sift out social media reviews of new products, services, shopping centres, toasters – essentially anything – and place it into context for our digestion. For consumers and customers on the social web, it means your opinions will be counted. For anyone offering a product or service, it means customer opinions will matter.
2. Augmented reality
The growth in location based web services exploded with Apple’s launch of the iPhone in 2007. Suddenly, the general pocket radio service (GPRS) location of your phone could be used to find out what was happening near you at any time, and a slew of apps using this location data came to the fore.
Augmented reality could be seen as the son of these types of applications. Using the wealth of freely available data on the web, augmented reality apps can cleverly combine very specific GPS coordinates, real time video and user generated content to allow users to look at the world through a ‘digital lens’.
Soon, you’ll be able to stand in the centre of Leicester square, turn on your camera phone (or most likely iPhone) and scan the vicinity whilst user reviews and suggestions pop up over relevant places on the screen. A great example of an app already doing this is the wikitude world browser.
3. Location based marketing
It’s taken a while, but we’re finally starting to successfully marry live data with location.
GPS services have been around for some time, but networks such as foursquare and Gowalla are steadily growing in popularity as users strive to share information with others in their immediate vicinity. This has obvious benefits for product positioning and brand awareness, but the true benefit has yet to be truly realised by many marketers.
If you offer a product or service that hinges around a location, get ahead of the curve by putting yourself out there on the social web and let your brand ambassadors do the talking.
With this in mind, here is what we think are the top three digital trends to look out for over the next 12 months.
1. Web 3.0
It’s not so much a matter of if, but when, for the next dawn of the world wide web.
1.0 gave us words and pictures, 2.0 gave us networks and interactivity and 3.0 promises to deliver something on a whole new level.
The concept is the semantic web which, stripped back to its most basic function, involves making the internet understandable by computers.
Historically, the internet and its vast mine of information has been designed to be read by humans, with technology acting as a mere platform for us to access to the content. Through a process called metatagging, machines can now ‘see’ the content on the web and understand it. For those that like sci-fi, it’s almost a form of artificial intelligence!
The repercussions of this seemingly small change on social media have the potential to be huge. Computers will have the ability to sift out social media reviews of new products, services, shopping centres, toasters – essentially anything – and place it into context for our digestion. For consumers and customers on the social web, it means your opinions will be counted. For anyone offering a product or service, it means customer opinions will matter.
2. Augmented reality
The growth in location based web services exploded with Apple’s launch of the iPhone in 2007. Suddenly, the general pocket radio service (GPRS) location of your phone could be used to find out what was happening near you at any time, and a slew of apps using this location data came to the fore.
Augmented reality could be seen as the son of these types of applications. Using the wealth of freely available data on the web, augmented reality apps can cleverly combine very specific GPS coordinates, real time video and user generated content to allow users to look at the world through a ‘digital lens’.
Soon, you’ll be able to stand in the centre of Leicester square, turn on your camera phone (or most likely iPhone) and scan the vicinity whilst user reviews and suggestions pop up over relevant places on the screen. A great example of an app already doing this is the wikitude world browser.
3. Location based marketing
It’s taken a while, but we’re finally starting to successfully marry live data with location.
GPS services have been around for some time, but networks such as foursquare and Gowalla are steadily growing in popularity as users strive to share information with others in their immediate vicinity. This has obvious benefits for product positioning and brand awareness, but the true benefit has yet to be truly realised by many marketers.
If you offer a product or service that hinges around a location, get ahead of the curve by putting yourself out there on the social web and let your brand ambassadors do the talking.
