Social Networking Trends

The Future of Social Networking and Social Networking Trends

Just a few years ago, online social networking was born and mostly young college students were creating Facebook and MySpace pages to keep in touch with friends and peers. However, in the past 2 years, social networking trends have dramatically changed. eMarketer collected data about online social network trends and released its results in February 2009. According to the findings, approximately 80% of people used a social network in 2008. This is an increase of 11% since 2007. Social networking trends forecast that it will increase to 52% by 2013

Social Media Experts Set the Stage for a Dozen Social Networking Trends

1. If businesses haven't jumped on the bandwagon yet, they will be running this year because it is a way to market your brand and expertise for free.

2. Assign compassionate people to make social networking successful for business, even if that means hiring someone outside the firm or company.

3. Social networking trends will push beyond the one click wonders and once a day or week logins. Consumers want interaction with companies, customer service and build a strong workforce inside the company.

4. Twitter will not only be a social networking trend, but will dominate conversations as well as TV, radio and other types of traditional media.

5. According to Chris Brogan, we'll see an influx of velvet-rope social networks, where members have a common interest and will generate more in depth conversations and develop better relationships.

6. Businesses will have to develop the "how" to better integrate their social networks to better their company and brand.

7. Improved analytics will have to be implemented to monitor the social networking trends and how much ROI businesses are getting from such networks. This will be at the top of all CEO's lists for social networking trends.

8. Tight budgets will force more companies to turn to social networking to build their businesses and client base. With so many free social networking sites, it's hard not to think about the possibilities.

9. Instead of adding as many friends and followers as possible, we will strive for quality rather than quantity. Seeking to build a trust between our followers and friends, we will be able to "rank" our relationships dependent on their social ranking.

10. Retailers and eCommerce will want to learn how to integrate social media with their customers' buying habits, and shoppers will be able to see what their friends and family are recommending to buy and where.

11. Video marketing will top the social networking trends whether it's Skype, YouTube or Google's video enable chat platform. Increasing brand recognition and trust with video is a must in business.

12. OpenID will explode as a social networking trend in 2009 and beyond by allowing consumers to see and read experiences, critiques and reviews from those they know and trust.