Futurist proved correct! …and today describes the extraordinary social technologies of 2016 (release)

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This morning Future Exploration Network issued this press release (excuse the hyperbole :-) ) I have already done several radio interviews on the forecasts in the release with quite a few more radio, newspaper and TV interviews lined up for the next days – the ideas seem to have struck a chord.

Futurist proved correct! …and today describes the extraordinary social technologies of 2016

Seven years ago, in his prescient book Living Networks, global leading futurist Ross Dawson accurately described the networked world of today, anticipating social networks, Twitter, corporate blogging, crowd-sourcing, personalised advertising, virtual personal assistants and much else that is now familiar to us.

Today, he offers insights into the extraordinary world of technology we will experience seven years into the future.

Ross’s forecasts for 2016 include:

• Many people will wear video glasses as they commute and walk around, experiencing new forms of television, news updates, and detailed information about the world around them and people they meet.

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Social Media Strategy Framework in French – Plan Stratégique des médias sociaux

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Continuing our series of translations of Social Media Strategy Framework, today we are launching the French edition.

See the original post for the full overview of the Social Media Strategy Framework in English and compilation of the framework in 11 different languages.

SMSframework in French

Click on image to download pdf

Please share this with any French speakers who would be interested.

Also be sure to let me know if you can suggest any improvements to the translation.

NOTA: Puisque j’ai vecu 13 ans a Geneve quand j’etais petit je parle Francais courrament, mais comme vous voyez je ne l’ecrit pas bien et j’ai jamais appris a faire les accents sur un clavier, donc je n’ai pas fais la traduction moi-meme :-).

Will Spotify crack open the all-you-can-eat music subscription model?

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Spotify is one of the hottest online music properties of the moment, currently pushing into the US from its home territory of Europe, where it has over 2 million users in the UK and over 4 million users in the continent. Its founder Daniel Ek recently said that it is doubling revenues every month.

The basic model is providing music streaming from a library of more than 5 million songs, through European deals with all the major music labels plus many independents. Ad-supported free subscriptions are available, or full packages for EUR/GBP9.99 or equivalent per month which include ad-free access and the ability to download over 3,000 tracks to your music player to listen to wherever you are.

Early this decade the all-you-can-eat music subscription model was getting some attention. In my 2002 book Living Networks I wrote:

These twin powerful trends of greater access to content, and increased awareness of quality content, can result in greater revenue for these industries, but new business models are required. For example, US music consumers currently spend on average $60 a year on CDs—equivalent to perhaps four albums. If each of those consumers were given the option to pay $10 per month, and in return get all the music they wanted, it is safe to predict that most would take it up, feel they are getting great value, and the industry would double in size.

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Augmented reality shows the path of the sun through the year

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Now here is a new spin on augmented reality apps: just out on the iPhone is Sun Seeker, from Graham Dawson, the creator of the best-selling Oz Weather and Climate Eye.

See Graham’s blog for a detailed description of the augmented reality Sun Seeker app.

In brief, when you look through the camera you see the current location and the path of the sun superimposed, allowing you to see where the sun will be at any point in time during the day (or night). It also shows the sun’s path for the longest and shortest day, or in fact any day you choose. Check out the video.

Uses of the app include looking at property, so you can check out where the sun will fall in different rooms through the year, planning your garden, and photography, for example seeing for the day of an event what time of day will have optimal sunlight.

The app has already been covered in a number of media outlets, with apparently more to come – the ITWire review is very useful in covering potential applications for the app:

ITWire: See the bright side of life with new augmented reality iPhone app

Computerworld: Sun Seeker iPhone app released

Apptism: Sun Seeker profile

[DISCLOSURE: Graham is my brother :-) ]

Social Media Strategy Framework in Japanese – ソーシャルメディア戦略構造

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Continuing our series of translations of Social Media Strategy Framework, today is Japanese.

See the original post for the full overview of the Social Media Strategy Framework in English and list of translations.

SMS framework in Japanese

Click on image to download pdf

Please share this with any Japanese speakers.

Also be sure to let me know if you can suggest any improvements to the translation.

FTC regulates blogging! Insights into the new world of paid influence

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The US Federal Trade Commission has released its long-awaited update to its “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising” to now cover blogging and social media.

The headline news is that:

The revised Guides also add new examples to illustrate the long standing principle that “material connections” (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers – connections that consumers would not expect – must be disclosed. These examples address what constitutes an endorsement when the message is conveyed by bloggers or other “word-of-mouth” marketers. The revised Guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service.

Those contravening the FTC Act can be fined up to $16,000 per post (it has been increased in the last year from the $11,000 that has been widely reported).

In other words, the world of paid influence that we explored at Future of Influence Summit will be regulated and laid open.

This whole thing is a minefield, and I wish had more time to run through all of the issues, but here are a few top-of-mind points that need to be made about this:

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Social Media Strategy Framework in Portuguese – Modelo Estratégico das Mídias Sociais

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Continuing our series of translations of Social Media Strategy Framework, today we are launching the Portuguese edition.

See the original post for the full overview of the Social Media Strategy Framework in English.

SMSframework in Portuguese

Click on image to download pdf

Please share this with any Portuguese speakers who would be interested.

Also be sure to let me know if you can suggest any improvements to the translation.

The Big Shift in economic structure and why knowledge flows are becoming a fundamentally important business driver

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A couple of years ago Deloitte tempted John Hagel away from independent consulting to co-chair a new think-tank, now called the Deloitte Center for the Edge. I have been a long-time fan of John’s work, and find many parallels with my own path and research.

The Center recently released its first major study, the Shift Index, which was accompanied by an article in the July-August issue of Harvard Business Review, titled The Big Shift: Measuring the Forces of Change.

shiftindex_500x266_180609.jpg

When the Shift Index was first announced, I was immediately drawn to look more closely because of its first key finding:

The performance gap between winners and losers has increased over time, with the “winners” barely maintaining previous performance levels, while the losers experience rapid deterioration in performance.

This matches exactly one of the main messages I have been preaching since the beginning of the recession, for example in my keynotes at the MegaTrends conference in Abu Dhabi and my TEDx presentation in San Francisco on Future of the Enterprise: this is a time of increasing divergence in organizational performance, and adopting new strategies and activities is essential to avoid rapid erosion in competitiveness.

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Social Media Strategy Framework in Dutch – Sociale Media Strategie Kader

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Continuing our series of translations of Social Media Strategy Framework, today is Dutch.

See the original post for the full overview of the Social Media Strategy Framework in English.

SMS framework in Dutch

Click on image to download pdf

Please share this with any Dutch speakers who would be interested.

Also be sure to let me know if you can suggest any improvements to the translation.

Where tablets will fit into the media landscape

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Rumors about the forthcoming Apple tablet are heating up. Gizmodo reports that Apple is in discussions with New York Times and other publishers about putting their content on a new device, with a mooted launch date of January. Wired Gadget Lab says to expect a device running the iPhone operating system, with 5-6 times the resolution of an iPhone screen and 7 times the screen size. Techcrunch suggests that the device’s size will mean an on-screen keyboard can be used for touch-typing.

In considering how tablets from Apple or others will be used as a media device, it is useful to refer to our Future of the Media Lifecycle visual from last year.

Media Lifecyle

Click on the image to download full pdf

This shows the lifecycle of media across home and mobile spaces, including how devices and interfaces facilitate the diffusion and creation of content from mainstream media through social media and life streaming and back again in a never-ending cycle.

As shown in the visual, there are two primary device forms that will be used in mobile media.

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