In the last decade, social media has been a forerunner in technological advancement, and every day and week brings in new updates that keep it constantly evolving. Social media has been used for family and friend’s social networking, allowed businesses to closer correlate their products with customers, and has become important as a political campaign tool for the 2012 Presidential Election. This year is going to mark the height of sweeping changes in social networking.
Facebook’s IPO
Similar to when Google decided to go public, Facebook is going to change the face of global media. Since its creation in 2004, Facebook has been gaining popularity and the upper hand on social media influence. This IPO is going to change how people view social media and is going to be influential in the value of viewership and promotion of social media. Additionally, Facebook is going to see an increase in people excited to buy a share in that future; however, this is going to put a face on Facebook focusing on their shareholders and their profit margins instead of online users. In order to increase profit margins, they are going to have find ways to follow their user’s behavior or bombard them with more advertisements; whereas, the new user timeline introduced earlier this year has already started marketing user behavior’s by following user’s use of new integrated apps and embedded television, music, and news articles. If they are not careful, these factors could hurt the company and could make them a weaker powerhouse in similar to Myspace.
Google Integration and SEO
Since 2011, Google has been on the heels of Facebook and is now in competition with its new Google Plus. Google’s creation of its SEO was a social media marker in how it helped to drive up page views. At the beginning of this year, Google revolutionized its search engine with the creation Search Plus Your World which allows search results and Google Plus to be integrated. This new piece of technology is going to allow Google to integrate all of its technology to target its users with similar searches from the user’s contacts and friends, while still allowing its users to maintain their privacy. The benefits for Google are going to allow them to market analyze their user’s behaviors on a closer level; additionally, market analysis is going to be big in this coming year as companies are trying to target more people with their products.
Up-and-Coming Pinterest
Pinterest has been taking off faster than anyone could have imagined and is unique social networking compared to its counterparts. It encourages a lot of do it yourself stuff such as making clothing and cooking. Its central platform to make people more self sufficient is helping to increase its popularity. Its unique interface is even more varied and simplistic at targeting its audience’s needs and wants than Facebook or Google.
Sources:
Lydon, Tom. Facebook IPO Drives Interest in Social Media EFE. finance.yahoo.com
Mcmillan, Graeme. Google Adds “Your World” to Search Results. Time Magazine