If we follow the path of the Web, Google, Facebook, and Twitter it seems the way to create the “next big thing” is to first solve an immediate problem relevant to your life-if it can help you, chances are that it can help a lot of others- and then run with it! Making a profit needs to be low on the radar as well. If you can find a product that works on the web, investors will find a way to make it earn revenue- most likely from Ad dollars.
The key to Twitter’s success has been ”how we’ve jury-rigged the system to do things that its creators never dreamed of.” The creators of Twitter never dreamed of the hashtag- to follow conversations, the RT- to respond to other users, or the @ symbol- to refer to another user in your post. These were all generated by users who found a way to make the system work for them. This is a great model to follow because the platform for new media is interactivity between the product and the users it only makes sense for the users to be able to create ways to make the product relevant to their lives.
The next big thing in social media will need to integrate everything we already know- instant access to information, the ability to interact and make the system our own, and personalization. New apps like Gowalla and Foursquare also have a tremendous opportunity to earn a lot of money in advertising dollars if they can take over the social media market like Twitter and Facebook have. A new way to integrate the instant access to information is have the relevant information come to you when you need it. Just like the Semantic web, it will predict your needs before you have said you need them. This sounds a bit scary; but think about how great it would be-if it was relevant and not annoying.
To be honest, I don’t know what the next big thing in new media will be. I wish I did. I’m just glad I am aware of this ever-changing, ever-innovating new medium that is here to stay.
