Once your Dad signs up to Twitter, you know its past its peak. It may still lurk there, like previous chart topper Myspace (perhaps popping up for a Chistmas number one now and then) but it has lost its cool. Every other tweet is a plug, free marketing tip or update on what your friend's Labradoodle just did. Too much noise, just like the Myspace custom profile epidemic - cue .gif backgrounds and semi-transparent dialog boxes. Eventually people just block it out.
So what's the next big thing?
Various online blogs seem to reveal two popular suggestions, the rise of Qik and the dawn of the Open Internet.
The fact is that both of these are already out of date if you're wanting to capitalise on the marketing opportunities presented by the world of web. Qik will suffer the same fate as Twitter (free plugs, free marketing tips and videos of your friend's Labradoodle) while the Open Internet can only be launched by organisations with enough clout to pull together the plethora of existing multi-million user sites. This will inevitably end with well-publicised launches and a cue of users waiting to exploit the new routes to market.
So what comes after the Open Internet?
Difficult to tell, perhaps one way of making an educated guess is to look at media theory as a whole and apply some way of logically progressing or upgrading the media outlets we have now.
For example, below is a list of some of the uses and gratifications people seek from media (taken from this source)-
Information
# finding out about relevant events and conditions in immediate surroundings, society and the world
# seeking advice on practical matters or opinion and decision choices
# satisfying curiosity and general interest
# learning; self-education
# gaining a sense of security through knowledge
Personal Identity
# finding reinforcement for personal values
# finding models of behaviour
# identifying with valued other (in the media)
# gaining insight into one's self
Integration and Social Interaction
# gaining insight into circumstances of others; social empathy
# identifying with others and gaining a sense of belonging
# finding a basis for conversation and social interaction
# having a substitute for real-life companionship
# helping to carry out social roles
# enabling one to connect with family, friends and society
Entertainment
# escaping, or being diverted, from problems
# relaxing
# getting intrinsic cultural or aesthetic enjoyment
# filling time
# emotional release
# sexual arousal
Take an item from the list above and try to think of how social media and the internet meet the needs of it. Now think of how that could be improved, streamlined, made in to a real time format and you might be on your way.
Example: How do we fulfil the need to "find out about relevant events and conditions in immediate surroundings, society and the world"? We check the news websites, Youtube (for TV events) maybe check relevant twitter feeds and TV. At the moment I still need to go to all these different sites. With the advent of the Open Internet, I will need to go to one site to check all these. But is there a way to streamline and shorten the amount of time it takes to get that information and make sense of it? Perhaps an algorithm that detects when a major event happens, alerts me in some way, opens the relevant news channels and also opens avenues for me to publish my responses? And the biggest challenge, how can I do all that through one interface in an intuitive and simple manner?
Prediction: interface design will become one of the biggest boom industries as technology begins to burst its banks and flow from the screen to the real world.
