You know it’s getting closer to a years end, when people start forecasting trends for the following year. This time it’s really early. It’s only the beginning of November and the first selection of six trends is already online.

David Armano writes about these 6 trends:

  1. Social Media begins to look less social: as more people contribute ever more content on social networks, updates-fatigue sets in and people filter out other users for reduction of clutter. I agree, and I would like to add: social media will have less farmville and mafia wars…
  2. Corporations look to scale: companies leveraging social technology to better serve customers, e.g. Best Buys Twelpforce
  3. Social Business becomes social play: playful social (mobile) applications with a competitive component for users are used for (local) marketing.
  4. Your company will have a social media policy (and it might actually be enforced): the title says it all.
  5. Mobile becomes a social media lifeline: Due to the IT departments locking down  social sites, people will increasingly turn to their smartphones during (or instead of) coffee breaks.
  6. Sharing no longer means e-mail: Well, that is kind of obvious in times of facebook and twitter…