Robin Low predicts several 2011 social media trends: 1) Facebook will exceed 600 million users with strong growth from Asia. Smartphones with 3G connectivity and apps will drive increased mobile internet use. 2) Sales of smartphones will surpass regular phones due to growing 3G adoption and variety of devices. Location-based apps like Foursquare will see continued growth. 3) Brands will act more like media companies, focusing on high-quality social media content to engage consumers. Facebook "Likes" will be important for branding success.

1. By : Robin Low 2011 social media trends to watch

2. what are my predictions for 2011? Facebook exceeds 600 MILLION users A lot of growth from Asia (Indonesia)

3. Usage vs. Country (Top 10 Countries on Facebook Sep 2010) Facebook 2010

4. % growth in 24 months (Top 10 Countries on Facebook Sep 2010) Facebook 2010

5. % growth in 24 months (Top 10 Countries on Facebook Sep 2010) Facebook 2010

6. smartphones+3G+apps = bliss Cheaper smartphones = more mobile internet users. Connectivity, internet, games, camera, apps. 3G offers the convenience of having it all in the phone. 694 million 3G subscribers at the end of third quarter of 2010, 14% of the total 5.12 billion mobile subscribers.

7. increase in smartphone users

8. increase in android market share Comscore.com

10. increase in smartphone market share With the explosive growth of 3G in many countries and wide variety of smartphones, 2011 would be a year where the sales of smartphones will exceed that of the regular phone.

11. social commerce Influencers would play bigger roles in the decision making process. Consumers are constantly scouring the social web to decide where to eat, shop and stay; so it comes as no surprise that brands are desperately analyzing Twitter, blog posts and reviews to understand not only who has the largest audience, but how much influence individuals have. In short, influencers will celebrities of the social web

13. location based apps will continue to grow Foursquare, Yelp, Gowalla and even Google will continue to play a big role for local advertising with location based tools. Foursquares recently integrated with Facebook, and more features are to be expected. Relevance will distinguish these services from each other as the two biggest players, Facebook and Google, have the most powerful social graph data to customize deals for consumers.

14. brands will become like media companies Social media has empowered brands to break their own news instead of relying on advertising or PR to disseminate their message. As brands become increasingly comfortable with social media on the whole, more budget and attention will be focused on high quality content created specifically for the social web. We will see more Facebook Pages like Skittles that appear to employ comedy writers to keep the content fresh. It would seem that “a brand’s best bet in social media is randomness.” http://mashable.com/2010/12/21/advertising-industry/

15. facebook “likes” will be important for your brand Brands will be tripling down on Facebook advertising in 2011, and the process for acquiring Facebook “Likes” has evolved to accommodate this increase in demand. Instead of doing A/B testing between two photos to see which generates more Facebook “Likes,” the savvier brands and agencies are leveraging technology that can simultaneously deploy 10,000+ ad variations to yield the lowest CPA (cost per acquisition) of those “Likes.” http://mashable.com/2010/12/21/advertising-industry/

16. http://vimeo.com/15632643 Kraft Foods: How Oreo Learned to Fish Where the Fish Are, presented by Beth Reilly

17. linkedin will play a big role in businesses In a recent study, nearly 95% of companies using LinkedIn to help in recruiting efforts. With more people on LinkedIn and understanding how it works, it would probably come out with more features that may integrate with companies and universities to facilitate networking.

18. social media would look less social The update of Facebook groups, focus on niche interactivity among exclusive friends. If this sees success, social media would definitely focus on quality engagement and less on broadcast type of communication.

19. integrating social media into business Companies that “get it” will integrate social media into their businesses. Large global companies will implement “global” social media strategies into their businesses and incorporate mobile apps. Companies will start to have integrated social media solutions for their marketing, crisis communications and beyond.

20. social computing - mobile / tablet games With more companies jumping into the apps market, there will be more reasons to get on 3G phones and tablets. Social networking will be on the go, out of the house, and out of the office. More competition, variety, power, and affordability in devices will fuel the increase of ubiquitous social computing.

21. google to join social buzz? With the failure to launch their own social media tool – Google Buzz, Google will probably not give up and in 2011, we should see Google attempt to make it relevant. Google is smarter with Twitter data, and I hope more can be done for Google to find their role and relevance in the social world. If you can’t beat them join them!

22. youtube power YouTube has demonstrated great potential in getting traffic, and in some cases, a serious amount of viewers. Eminem - Love The Way You Lie ft. Rihanna (200 million hits in 3 months) Many people now search “the tube” when they want to find and interesting commercial, and YouTube may prove to be a cheaper and better way to reach audiences.

23. personal branding With influencers gaining star like status on the Internet, there would be more opportunities and rewards for them as well. With the sluggish economy, people will focus on personal branding and social networking to gain more visibility and opportunities. Personal branding will be on the rise.

24. Twitter: dmediaacademy Blog: http://blog.newsocialmediabrand.com/ Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/digitalmediaacademy social media Are you on board yet?