Last week, I attended A Look to the Future, a conference at NYU. There were a number of panel discussions and speeches about topics as diverse as the future of risk to the future of green as a business strategy. One of the talks I enjoyed the most, however, was entitled The Digital Future: What Social Networking and Marketing Tools Mean for Businesses and Entrepreneurs. The panel included Douglas Atkin, Chief Community Officer, Meetup.com; Bant Breen, President, Interpublic Futures Marketing Group and Director of Strategic Development and Innovation of the Interpublic Group; Rob Master, Director of Media North America for Unilever; Kenny Miller, EVP and Creative Director for MTV Networks Global Digital Media; and Marc Sirkin, Lead Social Networking Strategist at Microsoft.
Each panelist spoke about how social networking is changing the way we interact with one another, both in terms of our casual social relationships and within the workplace itself. All the panelists also discussed the many ways that online social behavior has changed the media habits of consumers to the point that traditional advertising models are being called into question.
It was great to hear some industry insiders share their perspective on what we at futurethink have been talking about for the past few months. It was also great to know that The Future of Social Networks, a report we recently launched, is right on target with regard to where the social networking space is headed in the next few years. You can take a look at an overview of the report in the slideshow above, or click over to getfuturethink.com to download a free sample chapter or purchase the full report.
It’s an exciting time to be social on the web. What role are you going to play?
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The site is down and under rehab, the social network is the future and I will be a big part of it, I am looking for a team we can put together so we can launh full speed and have diverse input. Please give me some feed back, thank you, Ron sorensonbuilders@mac.com
I recently commented on another post, “Brewing Innovation at Starbucks.” I believe social networks can learn from the Starbucks evolution. Communities of interest are great. But, as they become large and attract commercialization in for form of targeted banners and other content sensitive focused messages, the community itself is at risk of destroying the community qualities that made it popular. Maybe this is the natural evolution. Create something. It catches on. It becomes a gold mine for outsiders to plunder. The thrill quickly is gone. The creators of the social network wonder what went wrong…
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