In the back of my mind I am quietly preparing for the future of what my social media monitoring experience might look like. I’m not talking about whether Google+ or Facebook will be the biggest site or if some other player becomes the social dashboard where we finally get a total view of all of our online social endeavors. I’m talking about things like the digital and physical worlds becoming even more connected—beyond location services on your mobile device.
What if my primary social site, I’ll call it futureBook+ for grins, integrated with my DVR to do predictive recording of television shows based on an algorithm that used my last 6 months worth of status updates, profile info and preferences of new connections I’ve made and reviews I’d written? That could open the door to new shows and movies I might have never thought to watch.
The DVR example is reasonable, especially with what we see today with “suggested items” and “frequently purchased with” while shopping online. It’s not such a stretch. Where I think it is really going to get fun is when we start seeing neuromarketing making an appearance in our everyday gadgets.
What is neuromarketing? It’s the practice of using technology to measure brain activity in order to help develop products or communications. Imagine using a mouse and keyboard that senses your reaction to ads on your screen or to posts about products and services made in your social network. The information is processed and the system tailors what you see, search results you get, ads you are exposed to based on the information it collects. Getting bored? Banner ads get flashier or more subdued depending on the site you are on and how you are reacting.
Maybe there’d be a big backlash—especially in a work environment or in a marriage. If your biological reactions gave away what you were really interested in on the screen when your wife walked by. . . “I just read it for the articles, honey!”
Some of these ideas require giving away more personal information than we do now and people would resist at first. But how many years ago did most of us agree to trade our marketing information for the ease of carrying a card or giving our phone number at the grocery checkout for that measly 4 cent discount on half of our items? We pay a lot for convenience these days and I can only imagine the tradeoffs we’ll make in the coming years to enhance our social integration to the physical world.
What do you think the future of social will look like when it blends with technology in the future? I’d love to hear your ideas!
Jackie Kmetz
~ Social Intelligence Crusader
