Let's face it; digital technology has changed life as we know it.
I don't know anyone who isn't doing digital things in some way.
Do you?
Digital and social media, thanks to the Internet, have broken borders, how we communicate, and how we deliver information-including the news. Disruption occurs at such a rapid pace these days, that to remain competitive, you always have to be reading the tea leaves. And, that includes digital and social media disruption.
What are the trends you have to keep any eye out for in the year ahead?
- Augmented reality: The very definition of “reality” is already beginning to change. Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, has suggested that we will live in a world where at some point we will not be able to tell the difference. Augmented reality blends the real world we see every day around us with a supplemental or added reality brought to us by digital technology and GPS. The Pokemon Go craze of last year showed us the future was here with augmented reality. See more augmented reality enter the digital and social media worlds.
- Virtual reality: Virtual reality is a computer-generated, three-dimensional world that can be entered, typically with some kind of device, such as a helmet or goggles. Facebook owns the leading virtual reality company, Oculus, which just had a massive judgment against it to pay $ 500 million to the game company ZeniMax. Despite that legal situation, virtual reality is big business and corporations are moving quickly to position themselves as the leaders in providing all of us opportunities to enter other realities.
- Live video: I don't know about you, but I've seen a lot more live videos posted on Facebook. Once Facebook Live was introduced in 2016, people young and old were suddenly hitting the “Live” button and all of the sudden I was seeing my friends in their kitchens or on the beach. Look for this to only increase as people get more comfortable just sharing their lives-live-on social media platforms, including the social media giant, Facebook.
- Social media shopping: Platforms such as Facebook and Instagram have done an excellent job of integrating advertisement without impacting the user experience. This integration is going to continue. You'll see more ads and marketplaces on social media sites as consumers make some of their purchases within these platforms.
- Organic promotion: Organic reach, the type of promotion that brands were able to get to their followers and supporters simply by posting, is continually being throttled by social media platforms. The limiting of brand promotion will only continue as the social media giants, such as Facebook, continue to develop platforms so that users remain longer and longer. Let's face it. These are businesses. Platforms like Facebook will continue to degrade the ability of brands to promote to supporters without paying a price.
