1. Community

   This has been discussed a billion times, what what might be less obvious is that social media enables smaller communities with very specific interests that are spread out over the whole globe. The evolution of social media will also allow people to share increasingly tactile experiences specific to their interest. This will further drive conversation and most importantly, innovation in those areas.

2. Transparency – The secrecy and rampant misinformation that marked the last administration was balanced in large part by the internet. While most of the actual debunking of false claims and investigative journalism took place on network television, it was the internet that amplified it’s visibility. Sites like crooksandliars.com are heavily trafficked and they specialize in outing deception. This forcefully brought back transparency and effectively turned it into a campaign issue.
3. Accountability

   Small and large companies are now employing people to be present online when things take a bad turn. Before the social web many businesses could get away with holding on until an issue was forgotten. Today, dissatisfaction can amplify quickly. At present, the only means of stopping this is to send someone forward to face the music.

4. Customization

   There are already quite a few online companies that can produce your designs on any number of simple products from t-shirts to calendars to coffee mugs. This is basically banging out small orders of something that is easily replicated, but the next step is for low volume crafts men and women to produce high quality goods to a creative specification.

5. Word of mouth viral transmission

   Once upon a time knowledge was transmitted from ear to ear. We are now exiting the age of mass media and becoming, like in the days of old, people who tell stories to one another in smaller groups. The quality of the message has improved because it speaks to a specific purpose and is aimed at educating, not persuading

6. Small businesses

   Can the Walmart era be ending? This is a very important time for small businesses. While the ‘95-2000 era empowered small business to sell things online, this current era is allowing them to get their message out to a wider audience, to target them and to differentiate themselves with greater effectiveness. In addition, they are now able to create and maintain a relationship with the customer based on trust. This makes continued sales much easier and leads to a customer driven business that takes much of the guesswork out of product development.

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