When I got onto Twitter in 2008, it was shiny and fascinating. Yes, I know that many of you have been here longer, and good on ya. You saw the potential. You were right. But the last thing you want to do now is rest on your laurels. You can’t get too comfortable here. Sure, you’re on Linkedin, Facebook and Twitter. Hell, you may still be on MySpace. But what’s next? I lived through faxes – Twitter can’t be all there is. At some point we’ll migrate to other places and congregate in new ways. Maybe it’s Quora? Maybe it’s something else that’s out there that we’re currently overlooking? But you can’t seriously think Twitter is all there is to global, realtime networking. It’s cool now, but in five years we’ll probably look at it more as a springboard than a sustaining platform.
Plus, I’m geting a little bored and am ready for a change. Lately it feels like more people care about manipulating the space for commercial gain than engaging in sincere dialogue. Everything’s business. And that’s cool – but when I got here it didn’t feel like the chamber of commerce event that it’s become.
So what’s next? How will we interact and congregate in five years? Go ahead – predict the future.
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Linnea A.
Jan 6, 2011
I’m kind of hoping the front porch will come back. I wonder, as I navigate the ‘netverse and see so much talk of wanting more face-to-face interaction, if I’m onto something.I agree with what you say about Twitter becoming a huge “look at me” business platform, and I suppose that’s why my activity has become so sporadic. I don’t play games, I don’t namedrop, and I don’t RT unless I think a message is worth sharing.Still, I’m grateful to Twitter because I’ve “met” all sorts of interesting people I wouldn’t have encountered any other way. This includes many Charlotte folk who live in different areas of town.
Jason Keath
Jan 6, 2011
I am investing my entire ad budget for 2011 into Instagram. Boom.
George Nimeh
Jan 6, 2011
Individual sites/start-ups will come and go. What’s next is the way things (both on and offline) will increasingly combine and work together. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and co. are interesting, but they (along with the newcomers) will be more fun (and more valuable) as they work, sync and play better with others. The resurgence of retail will be built on LBS and in-store tablet computing driven by pre and post digital interaction that takes place outside the retail environment. Foursquare and the other emerging LBS are only as interesting as they are connected to the real world, and smart marketers are finding clever new ways of weaving things together. So again, I think it’s less about which www or app you’ve just started using (Quora, for example) and much more about how things are combined into useful and valuable experiences for both consumers and marketers alike. I wrote a little about that here, but I think I should follow it up soon: http://www.i-boy.com/weblog/2010/03/future-of-tv-is-social.html@iboy
returntoworkmom
Jan 6, 2011
as a newbie to all of this, cuz I’ve been home juggling kids and carpool for way too long, twitter is awesome. Altho in my short tenure, I’ve quickly learned there’s not much room nor patience for newbies like me. Still, I’m experimenting and trying it on for size, and have found lots and lots of humor, as well as an easy way to unleash my inner mean girl while ripping those that annoy or tickle me on the spot, albeit into the great abyss.