Five Social Media Trends for 2011

I was curious to see what social media trends to look forward to in the new year and I came across an interesting article:

Five Social Media Trends for 2011 by Stephanie Schwab

I thought I would give my own thoughts on each of these five social media trends and perhaps hear other people's insights to these upcoming trends for 2011.

1. Consumer Content Curation

With technology becoming smarter, consumers are becoming smarter as well. Consumers are realizing that following hundreds of brands on Twitter and Facebook is becoming more and more overwhelming. Therefore, what's happening is that things are being created such as Facebook lists to turn off brands posting to their walls so they can pay closer attention to their "real" friends. For brands this means it's not going to be enough to create content; they need to create content that can get put into people's streams. I honestly do try to block most of the content coming from brands to my social media pages. I am bombarded all day by brands trying to advertise to me so why do I need to continue the bombardment once I am home and using the Internet? If I want to view the brands that I follow for coupons or special deals, I want the ability to turn their constant postings on and off. Brands of course are going to be looking for new ways to bipass this new system and I look forward to seeing how they plan to do so whilst hoping that they don't succeed.

2. Niche Location

Even though it was found that only 4% of the Internet population are using location based services, there's no question that Foursquare and Gowalla were huge social media trends in 2010. Now there are sites sprouting such as Shopkick (a service that appeals to in-store shoppers who love bargains) and Foodspotting (a service that allows people to find and share foods that they love). I myself had always been against location based services until I began my social media class. I had no idea that you could receive special coupons or discounts simply from checking into a venue. I've learned that when using sites like foursquare you can limit who sees where you are. If I don't want anyone but me to see my check-in, I can do so. Thus, I don't annoy people with my constant updates on where I am which was the first reason for why I had stayed clear of Foursquare for so long. I learned about Shopkick and Foodspotting from this article and have installed both applications on my phone to try them out. Foodspotting is great in that I can see what dishes look like from particular restaurants that may make my restaurant choice more clear. Shopkick on the other hand works with partners such as Best Buy, American Eagle, Macy's and Target to reward frequent customers with savings. In a time when money is tight, Shopkick is definitely appealing.

3. Gamification and Social Gaming

Gamification means applying game mechanics to things such as marketing to increase engagement and participation. Popular examples of gamification are Farmville and even Foursquare. Farmville works because if you don't log in and harvest your crops, they die. I myself used to be a Farmville addict and even a game that seems silly in the beginning, it can be very addicting after a couple times of playing. Foursquare is so successful because it has a competitive aspect to it. You can unlock badges by traveling to different places, get mayorships with special privileges and leave tips to be liked by as many people as possible. Companies are even using product placement in their games to get even more exposure. Gaming has definitely been a way for brands to get to me.

4. QR Codes
I am not a big fan of QR Codes nor do I recall ever using them. Even so, I think that QR Codes are going to become more mainstream soon enough. For those of you who don't know, QR Codes are on advertisements for people to scan with their mobile devices in order to bring up websites or other information on a persons mobile device. Perhaps I have not found an advertisement worth making the effort to scan their QR Code, but it is an interesting trend. Years ago I would never imagine scanning codes in a magazine so that information would come up on my phone. It is a fascinating technology, however it needs to become a little bit more mainstream before I will begin to use them more.

5. Social Commerce

I actually did not know this existed until reading this article. There are sites created merely for people to share what they have purchased at stores. I had heard of websites such as Groupon but did not know that it fell under this category. There is also Facebook Commerce where people can share their purchases with others. I don't think I will be partaking in this social media trend anytime soon. I feel somewhat of a hypocrite that I can share where I am or what I'm doing but when it comes to what I'm buying I don't feel the need to have a whole other social media site to post on.

I am enjoying all of the new social media trends that have emerged in the past couple of years. Some I find unnecessary (but yet I still use them) and some I find extremely helpful. It all depends on your lifestyle and privacy preferences whether or not a trend is going to appeal to you. Whether or not you like a trend personally though, always research them and see what is in it for brands or businesses. You never know when you could come across the next big thing that could help out a company you are working for, putting you ahead of the curve.

- Lauren Cochrane