AdAge: Predictions for 10 digital media trends in 2012

At this time of year, the media will make predictions about the development trends for the coming year. Starting from this issue, we will compile a series of articles on [Trend Forecast] from overseas media, hoping to help entrepreneurs gain insight into future changes.

AdAge is a global digital media company that is committed to "understanding consumer trends in digital media preferences". The following are the top ten digital media trends that AdAge predicts will be popular in 2012:

1. Circle

The digital world increasingly reflects our real life, connecting your friends, colleagues, and family members through social networks. On average, each person has 130 friends on Facebook. Fortunately, social networks now attach great importance to the classification function, which can easily group different friends and set the permissions for sharing content. It is expected that in the next year, the classification function and technology of social networks will become more mature.

Examples: Google Circles, Facebook Groups, Twitter Lists

2. Personalized News

We are now in an era of information overload, with more information generated each year than at any time in the past. Too much online information has made it even more difficult for everyone to “choose” the right information. In the past, solutions such as RSS subscriptions have emerged, which can be used to integrate news websites; now, new applications based on social media have emerged, and “social reading” will become the new standard for online content consumption.

Cases: Percolate, News.me, Counterparties, Flipboard, Zite

3. Rent , don’t buy

This is an era where more entertainment can be obtained at a low cost. For example, Netflix users watch movies for an average of more than 11 hours per month. Digitalization has actually changed consumers' perception of "ownership". Rental behavior is no longer limited to cars and media, but has expanded to many products that people think they don't need to buy, such as baby clothes, artworks for home furnishings, or office supplies.

Examples: Plumgear.com, Artsicle.com

4. Seamless transactions

We always hope that the transaction process can be more efficient, faster and safer, especially when the transaction involves bank accounts. Now everyone carries at least one "screen" with them. 40% of consumers in the United States own smartphones. The functions of mobile phones are not limited to simple phone calls. Payments can be made through mobile phones, allowing transactions to be carried out quickly. It is foreseeable that there will be more changes in banking and finance this year.

Cases: Bitcoins, Google Wallet, Monitise, Square Card, Facebook Credits

5. Online health management

Technology is developing very fast. People can use small and affordable products to monitor their physical condition at any time and automatically adapt to the surrounding environment. There are more than 1,700 "Quantified Self" members in San Francisco, who monitor their physical condition through location tracking, life records, personal DNA sequences, etc. Humans are paying more and more attention to healthy lifestyles and are also very interested in sharing experiences and results. Just like the NikePlus website and application launched by Nike, which connects people who like running around the world and provides them with a running tracking and running training platform, this is just the beginning.

Examples: Nest.com, Jawbone Up

6. Data cloud access

Moore's Law states that the data storage capacity of chips will double every two years, and now the public's demand for data access has also become great. With the emergence of cloud computing, physical storage has begun to become obsolete. We can access data through a variety of devices, whether at home or on the road. Not long ago, people could only store data locally, but now cloud technology has enabled larger online data storage. In the future, as service prices drop, this type of storage will become more and more popular.

Examples: Bitcasa, DropBox, Google Docs, Instapaper, iCloud, SkyDrive

7. Subscription Services

Humans are creatures of habit, and we want to get what we like in our busy lives. Over the past decade, as people have become increasingly time-poor and have limited time to complete daily tasks, subscription services have begun to emerge again, allowing people to get information on their own terms.

Examples: ManPacks, PlaneRed, Lollihop, Memberly

8. Nostalgia

Nostalgia has become an integral part of our culture. It’s just that it’s hard to put everything you’ve done, the places you’ve been, the people you’ve seen, and every trip you’ve taken into your life into a complete history. Hence, people start to like check-ins. They also use social media status updates to organize their recent lives. As we become more and more addicted to digital things, we will increasingly want to re-experience everything we experienced long ago.

Examples: Little printer, Instaprint, Foursquare

9. Geographical location

Seeing the same place through other people’s eyes gives us a new and different experience. We want to discover and share the hidden things nearby. Social media and mobile apps are making it possible for people to leave traces wherever they go. They can also classify these new explorations and add location marks to create a new life experience.

Case studies: MyBlockNYC, Trover, Foursquare Radar, Google Maps, Tour Wrist

10. Data Control

Data has become part of life. We can now track our web history, monitor the energy consumption of a car for every foot of travel, and more, to comprehensively track digital life. People have realized the value of the data we share online and may start to make different decisions - perhaps charging for access to data.

Examples: Ford Sync, LastFM, Goodreads, reading.am, Voy.url

Original: AdAge

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