10 Digital Unpredictions for 2013

Posted on January 8, 2013 by marc meyer

It’s safe to say that just because I waited until January 8^th, it doesn’t mean that I can’t roll out what I think will happen in the next 12 months. In other words, not posting prediction pieces in December does not diminish their likelihood of occurring. In the immortal words of former NFL coach, Dennis Green, predictions are what we thought they were.

With that said, I wanted to go with things that can truly occur in 2013. Thus they aren’t predictions they’re the opposite, they’re Unpredictions! I’ll explain why with each one .

The GIF goes Hyper. Some say that the GIF has grown up. Well once they grow up, then they’re on their own right? The only limitation? One’s own creativity. Which may mean the GIF becomes so 5 minutes ago in about 3 months. 🙂
Image is everything-meaning image sharing sites continue to explode, mystify and push the envelope. Snapchat, Poke and Instagam are the first iteration, which is scary.
This tape will self-destruct in 10 seconds. See the Poke link above. But know this, Data deletion will become de rigeur i.e. standard. Want to combat the Nano bytes of data that seem to replicate exponentially? Eliminate it almost as soon as it’s created, especially if it’s useless. Look for that to be a growing option in 2013. want to know who really takes advantage of this? marketers. Marketers will jump on this and snap a gamification piece onto data deletion. In other words, Act now. No we mean it, Now!
Speaking of hard drives. They become useless too in 2013. Can we just get a better name than The Cloud?
Content isn’t King. The creator of the content is King! The act of publishing of content is no longer the issue. The platforms, they’re simple. But the person or marketing teams who “get” the user and write for the user, they are the new kings.
Simple is the Queen to the Content Creator but dumbing it down will continue to dominate design. Why do you think Video has exploded? Because no one wants to read! Duh!
The Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple games/wars continue in earnest in 2013. This is about the easiest prediction in the bunch. But predicting who comes out on top for the year 2013-We put our money on Amazon. Surprised?
2013 decides whether Google Plus becomes relevant since users seem to be incapable of figuring that out.
In 2013 everyone realizes that they must measure their digital and social efforts but that still doesn’t solve the problem. Prepare for the birth of the Social Data Analyst Marketer.
Contrary to what this article says, the death watch of the desktop officially begins.

Can anything that any of us predict, really happen in 12 months? Not really. In order for it to happen, it really has to be in the works prior to 2013, right? So that means, maybe they aren’t so much predictions as they are things that should happen because everything that we have seen heard and experienced in the past 12 months, indicate that they should happen.

Let the games begin.

On Dependence of 3rd Party Platforms and Leaving the Grid

Posted on August 25, 2011 by marc meyer

We use Gmail to send email. We use Facebook to connect with our past. We use Twitter to let people know what we’re doing right now. Without technology, how would we connect with people? The phone, the written word via snail mail, and or lo and behold… face to face?

What happens if Facebook, Apple, Twitter, Youtube, Pandora, Verison, Spotify, Evernote, Amazon, Google and Microsoft were to go away? What happens? Life goes on. Case in point, you’re talking to someone on your cell phone and the call is dropped, what do you do? You look at the phone, you may call them back, you may not, you shrug your shoulders and life goes on.

Have you ever thought about how dependent you are on the digital things that make your life go? I know I do. In fact, we often joke about what would happen if some of us were off the grid for any substantial amount of time.Would we shrivel up like a raisin? Get a case of the DT’s? For some it’s possible, they can hop right off of the grid and shut it down no problem. Digital for those that can’t disconnect, resembles some type of ambient ubiquity which they cannot separate themselves from for any extended period of time-like 2 days.

But what if someone just disconnects

This morning I was looking for someone who I had gotten to know fairly well who essentially created a whole new life for himself around social media. They created a slipstream niche around how to use social media for SMB’s. They wrote a book, they V-logged, they tweeted over 15,000 times, they created an active Facebook page, and then all of a sudden. No more. The sites are shut down, the social profiles are dormant and the person has just disappeared from the social ecosystem.

Did he die? Did he just decide that social media is so superficial that there has to be something better out there? Did he get a new job that necessitates that he not participate at all in social? I may never know because the only way I ever communicated with him were through 3rd party platforms and social networks. He doesn’t use those anymore. Maybe he wants to reconnect with his family? I don’t know. In a sense, he has gone from one extreme to the other, and that’s OK. Why? I’m starting to think about the overall value of social as it pertains to our truly personal, social selves and maybe just maybe this person decided that it wasn’t worth it.

It makes you wonder though. What will social look like in 5 years. Is social in and of itself creating its own oxymoron? Where social doesn’t really mean social at all? Maybe there is something to Facebook Fatigue. All I know is that when someone ceases “to be” in social media either a life has ended or…maybe just maybe…life goes on.

Why do we move faster for damage control than we do for brand control?

Posted on April 17, 2009 by marc meyer

Can I get an amen? OK maybe it’s too soon in this post to ask for that. But really, I could not help but to think about the shitstorm that has happened over the last 7 days with Dominos and Amazon, and that maybe companies big and small, might want to take the time to better understand how they go about branding themselves either using social media or not.

I know, we’re not talking about a branding issue here. Or are we?

You see, it’s not so much how they brand, but rather, how fast, or the pace and the speed in which they do it. The reason I’m thinking out loud about this, is that I’ve now watched in 3 very high profile cases (Amazon, Motrin and Dominoes) how quickly large brands have moved to incorporate damage control via certain media channels, formats and vehicles- which led me to postulate-

Why don’t they move this fast in branding in general, controlling the brand or creating and shaping the message? What’s holding them back?

I suppose we can sit here and be quick to criticize or answer that question by stating a) If they are moving too fast then they must be trying to shove the message down out throats, and grab market share. And of course we know that’s not cool with their core audience, the blogosphere, social media pundits, marketers and the Twitter mob, etc., etc., etc. Right?

Or… We could criticize them for moving too slow and missing the boat and of course that’s not cool with their core audience, the blogosphere, social media pundits, marketers and the Twitter Mob…Right?

So they can’t win.

But what strikes me is this. Have you ever heard this statement? “You never know how fast someone can run until they’re running for their life.” Which always begs this question: Why don’t they run like that all the time?

Death of The Library and rise of the Kindle.

Posted on January 18, 2008 by marc meyer

Unless libraries can tailor everything that they do and stand for towards the digital universe, their days as a wellspring of knowledge and information are numbered. After reading an article titled, “The Impatience of the Google Generation” in wich the author and the responses essentially come to the conclusion that the current generation and younger generations for that matter, are essentially impatient when it comes to how quickly they can find and receive information, I can only assume that the last place that they would want to go is a place where their information was in a hard bound book!

OK, so yes libraries have computers that are tied not only to their volumes of hardbound books but also to search as it relates to the internet. But riddle me this: Why would I go to a library and search for a book when I could log onto a computer and find the same information? Says the 18-24 old student. I know it’s deeper than that, but lets put ourselves in the place of someone in college or younger. A) every college student, or a good portion of them now have their own laptop. So now they “walk” around with access to any and all information/research that they will ever need. Bogus wikis notwithstanding. and B) They are so accustomed to getting information readily, that going to a library defeats the purpose of library research per se.

Of course, they can still go to the “quiet” library to get work done. And there are still certain things that a library provides or possesses that a student still might need or utilize, but…the thinking is,”It’s all here on the internet”!

Generation “C” (content) has no use for a library. In fact I would venture to guess that funding on local, state and federal levels for libraries is constantly slashed in favor of more digital type programs or programs that lawmakers feel have more importance.

Having said that, here is one more thing for you to chew on. The Amazon Kindle is an electronic book device launched in the US by Amazon.com this past November. It uses an electronic paper display, reads the proprietary Kindle (AZW) format, and downloads content over Amazon Whispernet, which uses the Sprint EVDO network. This means that the Kindle can be used without the need for a computer. Whispernet is accessible through Kindle without any fee. On the release day, the Kindle Store had more than 88,000 digital titles available for download. Amazon’s first offering of the Kindle sold out in five and a half hours.It retails for $399.

Think about it. People still want to read but they want it condensed and more than just portable. So does this mean that the Dust jacket will go the way of the Jewel Case and album art? If the latest advances in media, music and entertainment are any indication, it appears that that will be the case.