By now we are all used to being able to see who is doing what and when they are doing it, it’s the social media revolution don’t you know! But what is the next step? Some critics say the current social networks won’t be around forever andthat they will kill themselves off but is there something else lurking in the bushes waiting to pounce when the time is right? While some would argue that Facebook is ‘too big’ to fail and that it has gone past the point of no return but it is already beginning to show cracks in its foundations.
There is no question that Facebook is the biggest social media network around withover 350 million unique users with over 20 million added in the last 30 days.This is a huge resource for businesses and marketers and has created a streamof revenue for many but there are some fundamental issues Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, needs to address; Primarily ensuring a consistent revenue plan as many applications available allow users to access their accounts without viewing any of the adverts, mainly Facebook mobile. As long as issues like these are addressed Facebook will stand the test of evolution, being the fittest and surviving as a result. But we have kept an ear to the ground and it sounds like there is a new wave of social media ready to emerge.
Mobile web access is massively revolutionising the web and the market it provides, smartphones are now commonly equipped with GPS and its likely that within the next few years this is standard on even the cheapest of handsets. With GPS comes the ability to Geo-tag anything, take a picture and post it on Flickr and anyone in the world can see exactly where that picture was taken. Soon this option will expand to twitter as some mobile applications have already attempted and it is up to the existing networks to ensure they are ready to follow.
There are a few geo-focused social networks that are already gathering momentum, a good example is Whrrl which is becoming popular in the US, it allows you to accurately tag yourself on a map and leave pictures, comments, anything you like for others to find. It has many of the similar features that are now standard practice with social networking like a profile, history and the ability to interact with users of your choice. If these features can be applied to our current popular networks then they may just stand the test of time.
Whrrl's App for the iPhone
The bigger question is “how can this make me money?” Marketers will have access to the most accurate demographics available, not just where you’re from, how old your are, but what your doing right now and where you go every Friday night. With this sort of information they could develop the most accurate advertising ever, imagine receiving an alert:
“Dave, you seem to be travelling to Liverpool every weekend, why not sign up to our discount season rail ticket with 20% off! You could spend your savings at that pub you keep going to!”
or
“Sarah, you walk past us every day on your way to work, why not stop by and use this 50% off voucher, it will make your commute much more enjoyable! Love, Starbucks xxx”
This could and should be the next big step for social media, although the ratio of people with smartphones is high, the proportion of people who use social networking and own a smartphone is huge, the target audience is there, waiting.
Your move internet...