What's going to be significant in 2012? I tend to leave the annual predictions up to others, but at the start of a new year it's very tempting to at least reflect and take stock.
Last year my loose round up of promising trends included QR codes, a new 'blogging golden age' and the growth of storytelling. Blogging does seem to be as strong as ever, but I'm not sure QR codes are being used effectively - at the moment they are 'the thing to have', appearing on billboards and newspaper pages like a rash. But who knows if anyone is actually scanning them or finding them useful.
However I do think we're going to hear a LOT more about storytelling and narrative, particularly as businesses start to better understand the real impact and potential of social media.
I also have a strong feeling that Google+ will grow in popularity and usage. For example, just today I read this post about how more US retailers prefer the Google+ button to Facebook like buttons. But whether its 'Twitter moment' will come this year I don't know. Although we're continually bombarded with information about the speed of technological change, attitudes and habits take longer to form. (As does the infrastructure. While gadgetry improves at the speed of light, we still have to put up with phone networks which seem to be from the era of the horse and cart. Frustrating.)
Something I'd like to predict, but I don't think it's going to happen any time soon for many businesses, is the move from short-termism to long term thinking. Quick wins, campaigns, micro-monitoring... I believe there's a danger in taking too narrow a view of things at the expense of achieving long-term results and systematic change. I realise that sounds a bit of a general statement, so I promise to follow up with examples of what I mean.
