2012: Its Only Just Begun...

2012 may, for some, mean the end is nigh.  For the rest of us, however, it means a new year with new speculations on what the calendar will hold.  In the digital world things change rapidly, though with a degree of foresight we can look at what the year might hold and stories that might unfold -apocalypse withstanding.  Here I will look at the worlds of Social Media and Marketing, how technology might affect daily life and the wider picture in this coming year.

Social Media

2012 marks the year Facebook goes public in “one of the most hotly anticipated flotations in US corporate history” and “the biggest internet public offering since Google” – according to the Guardian’s Media and Technology reporter Josh Halliday.  With estimates on the network’s worth hovering around the $100bn mark, many are hotly anticipating April’s deadline for Zuckerberg to announce Facebook’s profit margins.

Elsewhere expect Social Media to continue to blur into other aspects of our lives; as customer service, entertainment and commerce continue to collide with networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.  Companies such as Netflix and Spotify are uniting with Social Media platforms to attempt to curb piracy and create an integrated online one-stop-shop where all online activities exist within a social network, while e-commerce sites will continue integrating to Social where higher conversion rates and better customer understanding await those that are smart about it.

From a business perspective B2C Social Media engagement will be more important than mere presence.  Quality rather than quantity will apply more than ever in 2012 as more networks mean more to choose from to promote brands and services.  As Cindy King puts it: “The old mantra of ‘be everywhere’ is quickly being replaced with ‘be where it matters to our business.’”

Social Media, especially Twitter, will continue to play a part in the emerging dialogue on freedom of speech and information.  The Leveson enquiry, online protests such as the current battle against SOPA and the controversial relationship between social networks and civil unrest promise to continue to play out in 2012 with reactionary proposed legislation instigating impassioned rhetoric in the fields of politics, internet and information-based services and the media. While the issue of piracy could reach boiling point with new laws emerging and tougher regulation systems.


Technology, Innovation and Daily Life

Going on 2011’s progress towards an interconnection between aspects of our daily life with cloud-based technologies, such as Ford’s cloud connected ‘Evos’ car, it is widely believed that 2012 be the year we start laying the groundwork towards an Internet of Things.
Phones in general will get more powerful in 2012, with devices such as the HTC Edge –“ the first quad-core mobile phone with a quad-core 1.5GHz processor”-, Galaxy Nexus and rumours of an iPhone 5 highly anticipated this year.  As phones get more powerful companies like Motorola with their Atrix phone are pushing towards docks that turn your smartphone into a laptop in a growing trend towards a single, highly powerful and adaptable device that performs multiple functions.

Phones are replacing cameras, the iPhone was announced as the world’s most popular camera recently, and next on the humble phone’s list of devices to conquer is the credit card as NFC and m-commerce continues to pick up speed this year with large-scale companies such as Visa and Google investing in the new technology and research predicting the mobile virtual currency market to hit 4,8bn by 2016.  Although critics say we won’t be leaving our wallets at home just yet this year NFC and mobile payments are part of wider trend in which commerce is moving towards more integration, convenience and multiple channels.

Another everyday product that is being digitally revolutionized is the TV, which after 2011’s move towards integrated Smart TVs is the next thing on many technology companies’ hit-lists to master, including a company you may have heard of called Apple.  Apple hasn’t announced anything official regarding their foray into TV but it is widely thought to be the next step for the company post-Job’s death.  Smart TV’s have the potential to become, like the phone, a major integrated digital product that replaces the PC as we know it, showcasing Apps, integration into other devices and functions and our Social networks like never before.

The other big buzz-word for 2012 is Augmented Reality which has the potential for real innovation this year.  Marketing promotion, functionality, task support (for things such as surgery or parts assembly), navigation, entertainment, education and art are all areas in which AR has the potential to innovate.  This year however expect AR to feature more heavily in devices, gaming and promotional activity.  The possibilities are quite exciting.  
Voice recognition is also a showstopper of a technology which after adoption by Microsoft Kinect and the iPhone 4S’s Siri in 2011 may begin to appear in other aspects of daily life from Smart TVs to household products. However it may still be a while before human’s and computers have seamless conversations if the misunderstandings Siri encountered last year are anything to go by.


Wider View

If 2011 was defined by radical social unrest globally and a question of freedom of information, I believe digital and technological progress in 2012 will hinge on legislation changes, lawsuits and whether the Internet is able to continue empowering groups and individuals.
I think 2012 will be a year when many of the connections, institutions, businesses and products that were lost or are in danger of being washed away by the digital revolution will learn to utilise our new digital landscape to rebuild, reconnect and survive.  If they’re smart.

by Elle Holgate

Links / Sources:
http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/8517-social-media-in-2012-the-expert-view?utm_medium=feeds&utm_source=mobile
http://www.psfk.com/2012/01/news-internet-trends-2012.html#ixzz1jtlVCrtb
http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/30698.asp
http://www.fastcompany.com/1776893/augmented-reality-outfit-junaio-aims-at-a-sci-fi-future-with-object-recognition?partner=rss
http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/30723.asp?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ImediaConnectionAll+%28iMedia+Connection%3A+All+Stories%29
http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/8645-mobile-virtual-currency-market-to-hit-4-8bn-by-2016-report?utm_medium=feeds&utm_source=mobile