Social Media Trends for 2011

Amongst other things, 2011 is seen to be a seminal year for social media integration. 2010 was a good year for social media; not only did Facebook hit the 500 million member mark, but also played a cameo role in the award-winning film, The Social Network. Twitter has become the platform of celebrity meets non-celebrity - Kanye West meets Steven Holmes - and has really taken root in the public domain over the past year.

One of the major developments for social media over the past year, and the one expected to flourish in the coming 12 months and beyond, is that of social commerce. The rise of applications and reward schemes such as Foursquare and Groupon has really taken off, with a complementary rise in mobile internet activity showing that we are an increasingly social bunch where online shopping is concerned.

Whether the shopper is at home, at work, out shopping, or on their way, they are able to continue in their e-commerce activity. According to an eMarketer survey, almost 20% of smartphone usage throughout the collective festive shopping experience in the US was devoted to mobile barcode scanning technology, whilst the same proportion accounted for discount coupon receipt.

Such figures demonstrate the expansion of internet activity out of the home and onto the streets. This will be a significant aspect for social networking developments in the next few years, with social media engagement accompanying the user on his shopping experience, rather than simply briefing them before their shopping trip.

The growing trend towards m-commerce indicates the parallel rise in mobile social media interaction. This will be manifested in the increased integration of social media strategies into long term business plans of companies worldwide. Already, many businesses have embraced the social media channels, in 2011 however, such experimentation is expected to blossom into a fully blown marketing strategy.

Cross-over in the social and wider digital world will become entirely familiar. Already consumers are accustomed to the Facebook and Twitter icons located on 99% of retailer - and most other – websites. As we progress, such integration will not only take place on between a retailer and their corporate Facebook page, but across a series of social platforms.

This will be especially desirable given the growing “social media schizophrenia” - to borrow the term used by David Armano in a Harvard Business Review Blog - in which more of us are active on a myriad of social media profiles. The resolution may come in the form of an integrated social media interface, incorporating our Tweets, Stumbles, and likes in one easy to manage social dashboard.

It seems that the worlds of mobile internet and social media are inextricably linked. The success of one will have a determining effect on the success of the other, as will the enthusiasm with which the challenge of social media integration will be taken up by businesses on a more than experimental scale.