Comments on: 5 Meta Trends Shaping 2009 Social Media Predictions

By: Charles Neville

Charles Neville — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 23:38:47 +0000

I’m pretty new to twitter and so far I view it as a way to follow the thoughts of people I admire such as @guykawasaki, @stephenfry and people I have interests in common with, primarily professional interests, but haven’t met – my followers include just two people I know offline. My Facebook profile however is more of an offline friends (and now relatives) only thing, much more personal, though less frequently updated. Not sure how’d I’d feel about being ‘friended’ on facebook by one of my idols.

By: Chris Kenton

Chris Kenton — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:16:47 +0000

Hey Ronald. Thanks for the links. I’m checking them out.

By: Ronald Andrew Blodgett

Ronald Andrew Blodgett — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:19:40 +0000

Hello Chris.
http://www.Crucialtrends.com aka
http://www.trends-magazine.com/

is a great source for more information about forcasting business trends.

By: Venkat

Venkat — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:00:26 +0000

Re: your fragmentation point, I hope (not predict) that we’ll see some improvement there in 2009. Among the positive signs are the release of Facebook Connect and Google Friend Connect, as well as the slow diffusion of Open ID. I think identity centralization around a user-selected locus is going to happen (curiously, Microsoft was prescient here with its failed ‘passport’ concept). Making that centralized ID secure is a whole other ball game. But let’s at least start.

By: 5 social media trends in 2009 | BetaTales

5 social media trends in 2009 | BetaTales — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:56:10 +0000

[...] “5 Meta Trends Shaping 2009 Social Media Predictions” from Criskenton [...]

By: Chris Kenton

Chris Kenton — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 23:55:23 +0000

Hi Meri. Nice to meet you. I appreciate the kind words, and the follow. I’m checking out your coaching site now.

By: Chris Kenton

Chris Kenton — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 23:53:19 +0000

Hey Karl. Thanks for the response. We’re not in disagreement at all. My post was more descriptive than prescriptive. In fact, I advocate the same position you articulate to my clients as well. I think quality of the network is very relevant and important. But for better or worse, I think the social imperative for quantity is stronger than the imperative for quality right now–and I think that’s simply a reflection of the evolutionary curve. Once we hit some point of critical mass, the imperative will naturally shift to quality.

By: meri walker

meri walker — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 16:57:19 +0000

Wow, Chris! This post (and the video interview) really help me focus on this first workday of 2009. I just spent two days trying to make better sense of Twitter. Changed some things. Watched the effects. Changed some more. Watched what happened. I’m seeing all of what you’ve written here at work in the results.

Going to pass on this post today to people who need to better understand the terrain. Thanks a million for spending the extra time.

By the way, I’m here because of a tweet from a new follower…

By: Karl Long

Karl Long — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 04:10:07 +0000

Very good article Chris, the focus on the growth of networks is a critical one, and one that I think has been well exploited by social networks over the years from AOL, to friendster, to myspace, to facebook. Now in your post you are careful to note that growth is important to “unleash it’s value” and my one warning is that any fast growing network benefiting from positive network effects are going to “look valuable” but might not be creating much value. I write extensively about this in my “My prediction for 2009, the flight from growth to value”

This is not an article that opposes your view, but just tries to emphasis and focus on creating value, before you start really trying to grow In many ways, creating value from a network of people will exhbit very strong network effects so growth will happen naturally.

Oh, and on the personal branding point, I think it’s as important to focus on a personal business model as well that way you can ‘invest’ in building your personal brand

Cheers, and happy new year!

By: Chris Kenton

Chris Kenton — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 16:02:01 +0000

Hi Peter–

Thanks for commenting. I hope you didn’t take offense to my comment–I enjoyed your post. I agree quality is relative. But I’m trying to make the point that the behavior of indiscriminately adding friends and focusing on volume actually has evolutionary utility beyond the social imperatives of looking cool and connected. I think it primes the pump by driving networks to a critical mass where the unique value of social networks is unlocked.