The Latest Emerging Media Trends
As the Internet continues to grow, innovations keep occurring at a breakneck pace. I haven’t had this much trouble keeping up with the emerging trends since 1998, when anyone with an idea launched a new product or service online. This article will explore some of the latest trends that have immense potential in the world of emerging media.
Emerging media are new forms of communication such as blogs, social media sites, podcasting, and virtual worlds. Some forms of emerging media have become so popular, one can debate that they are really mainstream. Social media sites and blogs are two examples that I would consider breaking through as mainstream. This is the first trend to take notice. Some forms of emerging media have reached the “tipping point.”
Another trend is the growth of interactive mobile communications. The iPhone introduced a breakthrough in mobile phones. The second version of the iPhone contains another breakthrough, the introduction of iPhone “apps.” These are applications that perform specialized functions and are downloaded from Apple’s App Store. Types of apps available include games, music, language, finance, news and many more. One of the great things about these apps is that they can download new information from the Internet such as advertising and content messages. This creates a huge opportunity for companies to deliver added value to their customers through branded applications that improve the customer experience or, at the very least, keep customers engaged with their brand. This trend is brand new and catching on like wildfire. This is one trend that should be watched closely as I predict that not only will this continue to grow for Apple, but all the other mobile companies will be following Apple’s example.
Along the same lines of iPhone apps, Widgets and Gadgets are becoming extremely popular. These mini applications are available on the Macintosh desktop, Windows Vista desktop and at personalized Google home pages. These mini applications are focused on delivering specific functions such as the weather, stocks, news, very similar to iPhone apps. It’s just another vehicle to engage prospects and customers through the desktop.
Another form of emerging media related to the two above are Rich Internet Applications. They are similar to Widgets, Gadgets and iPhone apps in that they utilize the Internet to update and deliver content. The difference is that they are usually sophisticated applications that deliver a wider variety of features, functions and content than their smaller cousins. I’m surprised it took so long for this to catch on. I saw this opportunity about seven years ago and worked to develop Point-Click Technology, a proprietary Rich Internet Application platform of Rhythm Interactive. This technology allows companies to deliver desktop applications that track user behavior and deliver continuous, updated content. I expect this category of applications to grow rapidly over the next several years.
Emerging media is continuing to evolve as some forms become mainstream and others are newly born. The opportunities to stand out from the crowd are plentiful. You can deliver added value and keep your audience highly engaged with your brand. I strongly recommend that you investigate these new forms of communication and discover how to leverage these technologies to grow your business.