Switching off for Christmas was an interesting exercise for me this year. I normally work through it, staying in touch with all aspects of my online life from a social and business perspective. The past week or so though, has been an extremely sobering experience.
For the first time, I could really see how futile some of the conversations going on around me were. This period of downtime, it would seem, has given me a sense of perspective – and it’s amazing how seriously some people take themselves.
There are some exclusions to this rule; Lidija Davis’ round up on ReadWriteWeb sums up the good guys nicely, referencing Peter Kim’s Social Media Predictions for 2009 and making specific reference to Chris Brogan’s ‘One Ring’ profile suggestion. This I like a lot. It’s the concept of creating one profile that is simply adapted for different social networks; depending on which info you want to share with each audience.
Taking this all into consideration, I decided that I wouldn’t make grand gestures and misplaced statements for shock value alone. I haven’t spent the time really digging around in what’s coming up; neither am I qualified enough to predict the next big thing for 2009. Instead, I thought not about what will happen, but what I’d like to.
- PLEASE operators, PLEASE just sort out your tariffs. Surprise bills are just not acceptable anymore, and there’s no need for them to exist. The call for this issue to be resolved once and for all was one of the biggest talking points at Future of Mobile this year, and is something I wholeheartedly support. Yes, it’s not going to be fixed overnight, but it’s predominately greed and red tape preventing us from having low cost bills. We all submit to the promise of free minutes and additional benefits, only to be royally screwed by hidden roaming charges.
- Every Single One Of Us, which by uniting a cross-section of mobile operators, advertising agencies, big-name brands and (most importantly) members of the public, aims to educate the industry and encourage discussions about emerging business models. Founded by Jonathan Macdonald, the collective has the potential to facilitate a true change in communications. Now is exactly the right time for this, and is something I’ll be ranting about throughout the next year. I hope it’s given the attention it deserves.
- Twitter followers will stop wearing it like a badge of honour. The benefit of Twitter is its speed for breaking news, and the accessibility to view/get involved with truly valuable conversations. Volume doesn’t equate to ‘power’, and after all, your follower list might just be full of spammers.
- The potential of Semantic thinking has to be made clearer. It’s all very well for experts everywhere to say it’s still just a concept. But it’s easy to understand through real-life examples such as The Hype Machine. Maybe this year, someone will not only step up and spell it out, but also publicise that explanation. Its potential can only be realised when you can explain it to the masses. People are ONLY JUST starting to get to grips with web 2.0 – and it’s taken years to make its value relatable. Maybe someone should start getting ready?
- Businesses will move from a ‘control’ approach, to one that will ‘inform’ and ‘educate’. Instead of restricting all use, this means providing guidelines, whether that’s for Social Media usage - or just email best practice.
- I’ve fallen in love with Pete Blackshaw’s concept that ‘emotion powers conversation’. Is it really possible that 2009 could see blue chip brands cut the jargon, and speak rationally with their customers?
- It’s time to get over the PR vs. Journalism fiasco. This is a never-ending debate, there are those in both camps who will always ruin it for everyone. But at the end of the day, it’s just a Tom and Jerry situation.
- I’d love for people to realise that you cannot CREATE a viral campaign. You create amazing content, and it GOES viral.
- Political influencers will follow in the footsteps of Obama, and the campaign to integrate Social Media into British politics (as championed by the likes of @documentally @sizemore and @ilicco, amongst others I’m sure) will succeed wholeheartedly.
- Maybe this will be the year Agile Development, and its focus on a personal alignment between business and IT, really comes into its own. Hopefully for the right reasons as well - not just that of speed.
- I would also be pleased for Carl Honoré and Ron Tolido’s concept of ‘Slow IT, the art of careful technology’ to take off. A renewed respect for properly timed and crafted technology solutions results in richer applications, with fewer bugs - as well as a real appreciation for what’s been created. This does not mean a Google-esque six years of beta, but simply taking the time to create something well, instead of rushing something for fear of being pipped to the post. In the long run, the tortoise always wins the race and all.
I guess my final, and most important ‘want’ for 2009 would be for a more proactive approach to change – rather than people just jumping on the band-wagon and lending their name to a list just so that its there. This isn’t in reference to anything in particular, but goes hand-in-hand with a kind of elitism that I’ve seen develop of late. Whereas many proclaim to support a transparent way of working, where discussion is encouraged. In reality, this is far from the truth.