Trending Towards Change...

Recently my manager asked me to write down the first three current (or currently evolving) social media trends. Here is the list I came up with:

• Social media is a marketing communications tool. It should be used in a way that the customer experience is seamless between the physical and digital worlds. Customer expectations are skyrocketing. Not only is mediocrity is no longer tolerated, it is instantly broadcast. Companies need to be transparent and join in the conversation about their brand(s) - the good, the bad, and the ugly. All of it will be told - and is being told - either a company can be part of the storytelling or they will be left behind.
• Social media innovations will cause major shifts in other areas, like copyright. Blogs and social sharing sites started to push the limits of copyright as it currently stands several years ago. Pinterest is pushing these boundaries even further. Many people are saying that the current general terms of service on Pinterest does have due diligence to protect copyrighted material. But, this is just the beginning. I think that social media and digital innovations will continue to create shifts in society status quo. (Here I'm talking about major changes in law, revolutions, transfers of power, etc.)
• The right person for the job might not be within commuting distance. We are now living in a global world, doing business in a global economy. To be competitive you need to have a global workforce. Companies need to use technology and social tools to find the best people for the job wherever they are located. Social networking, communication, and collaboration tools can help people across the globe work together as a team. (Here think internal collaboration tools - instant messaging, video chatting, file sharing, collaborative editing, etc. And it's important to note, these tools do not need to be proprietary, they can be AIM, Skype, Google Docs, etc.)

After thinking about my list he suggested I add privacy and how our ideas of privacy are changing as a society. I agree. It is important for individuals and organizations to respect the privacy of others, but I think our ideas of privacy will evolve as global citizens become more comfortable being netizens. We will need to strike a balance between "sharing" and "privacy". Balancing these two opposing aspects of social behavior is a challenge for all social networks. As we move towards the ideas of semantic web context becomes more important. Therefore sharing information and connections will also increase in relevance.

Where should we draw the line now? And where will we draw the line in the future? Only time will tell...

More About Conversations on Twitter

So, I have written about Twitter before, but would like to return to the subject.

Twitter has become a modern phenomenon. Founded in 2006, Twitter is a social networking and microblogging site that allows users to post messages of 140 characters or less called tweets. And it is changing the way we share ideas and information over the web.

In 2008 and the first half of 2009 traffic to Twitter.com exploded, starting at less less than half a million unique visitors per month in the beginning of 2008, increasing to over 5 million unique visitors per month in January 2009 and then 22 million in June 2009. Then something happened – the growth stopped. From June 2009 through January 2010 the traffic to Twitter.com remained relatively constant, between 22 and 23 million unique visitors per month.

But, that is only part of the story. During the same time period the number of tweets posted on Twitter continued increasing. In November 2008 the 1 billionth tweet was posted on Twitter. Then in October 2009 the 5 billionth tweet was posted and in March 2010 the 10 billionth tweet.

The number of people going to Twitter.com is no longer increasing, however those who do go to the site are utilizing it more. In other words, people are tweeting more! To me this is an exciting prospect. Twitter has a great potential for conversation and information sharing both locally and across the globe. People have used Twitter to communicate about political events, natural disasters, and triumph. It is very exciting to see individuals engaging more.

The conversation has begun. What will happen next?

Notes: Unique visitor statistics for Twitter for this post are from Compete, Quantcast, and Mashable.