The web is progressing, it is learning.

Images, music, maps, are only a part of how we experience the web today. These elements are the start of Augmented Reality which uses maps and images to orient the web user to a virtual reality.

Location based social networks like FourSquare, are all the rage right now.  This makes sense in the order of things right?right?Geography is about everything that is (literally) close to us, and it’s a universally familiar method of organizing, finding and tracking relevant information on objects, events and people.

First we make friends, then we share.

The one-way-web turned into the Social Web and now Google Instant gives us the Instantly Social, Geographically Oriented, Personable, Smart Web.

The fundamentals are the same. It’s still the Google algorihtm- it’s just smarter- it knows YOU, displaying results in a different way. Relying on your personal search history as a key factor in Google’s quest to deliver a quality search experience which means: PERSONALIZED search results.

Moving forward, Google results will be a reflection of your involvement and patterns on the web- using more than the WORDS themselves to determine the context of your search, more or less- deciphering your intent in searching. i.e. Have you been to this website before? Have you researched other similar sites?

By providing this immediate feedback -Google is changing the WAY we search, and eventually our collective search behavior will change… SEO is now dependent on more than keywords, content must meet new factors related to user relevancy and intent…

Mike Toner

Mike Toner is a freelance web designer from Arlington, Virginia. During the day he works as a Web Content Manager for CSC. By evening, he’s a husband, dog owner and runner. Toner writes about Social Media, SEO and overall online visibility as well as digital marketing trends.

    

For the last year or so there was a lot of hype surrounding the use of social networks from a marketing and public relations perspective. Then came the question of ROI on Social Media.

Look at how far we’ve come…

I am happy to say that in the world of online interaction… we are moving on.

Over the last year we have figured out to engage, track and leverage social networks as a piece of our organizations marketing and PR efforts. Now that we’ve done that…What’s next, you say?

The Internet is leaving the computer at home. We are taking the internet with us everyday on our blackberry, iphones, droids etc.

We are able to access information on the web from virtually every place on earth, no pun intended…(it’s not virtual, it’s real…)

The Future is in the palm of your hand..in the form of a mobile phone/device…

One day soon, my blackberry will ping me when the dryer is done and my refrigerator will send me a message when it is time to buy more Dr. Pepper after sensing that the refrigerator is low on soda.

When thinking about the next use of mobile devices what do you imagine? I think appliances, cars and tv’s will the the first things to ‘communicate’ with my mobile phone… what do you think?

I believe we are also going to watch our mobile devices become our keys, phones & wallets combined…

Mobile is the pre-cursur to the Semantic Web..or the Personal Web…the cloud?, er  3.0….ohh no…here we go again…

The Future Internet – Web 3.0: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=off08As3siM

Mike Toner

Mike Toner is a freelance web designer from Arlington, Virginia. During the day he works as a Web Content Manager for CSC. By evening, he’s a husband, dog owner and runner. Toner writes about Social Media, SEO and overall online visibility as well as digital marketing trends.

    

For those who think facebook is the extent of your online persona – think again. We are entering a new era and those migrating into social networks are quickly learning how to communicate online.

I like the idea that we are collectively learning and brainstorming how to use social media. Do you think it is a learned skill…?

In Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations, Clay Shirky discusses the mass amateurization that comes with social media and what “happens when people are given the tools to do things together, without needing traditional organizational structures.”

So, are you ready to dive in?

S is for Social

Social Media has given individuals an online platform to facilitate the sharing of information. We share ideas, songs, powerpoints- you name it, you can find opinions and ideas about that topic online and this information is now within your social network.

O is for Openness

The social web encourages transparency. There is no way to hide what you say online, everything is searchable and archived. The Freedom of Information age is upon us.

U is for Ubiquitos

Access will be mobile, allowing for constant interacting among individuals through virtual, online portals.

P is for Privacy

The internet and the information being gathered by google, facebook, linkedin, gist and twitter is a gold mine for marketers who want to anticipate our next move and find creative uses of GPS enabled location-tracking devices, like cell phones. When and where I’ll be hungry is a great place for a sidewalk lunch-special sign, isnt it?

What does all this lead to?

Well, it leads to the to optimization of the optimizer or a place where machines can analyze all the data on the Web, and computers behave like personal assistants and ultimately can respond to my questions and recommend my likes and dislikes based upon our prior behavior.

What is your next move online?

-Mike

www.MikeToner.com

Mike Toner

Mike Toner is a freelance web designer from Arlington, Virginia. During the day he works as a Web Content Manager for CSC. By evening, he’s a husband, dog owner and runner. Toner writes about Social Media, SEO and overall online visibility as well as digital marketing trends.