One of the dominant internet trends this year is Globality and the increase in the number of global web users of the web. 81% of internet users on top 10 global web properties are outside the US.
The above chart shows that more of the top web companies are now coming from outside the US with countries like China and Russia climbing the list of top online companies. These trends mean that online businesses need to look at other markets around the world and think about what needs to be done to get into those markets. China alone has almost double the amount of internet users compared with the US and countries like India, Nigeria, Russia and Japan are all adding more users compared with the US.
I watched a talk by Mary Meeker of Kleiner Perkins and she provides a great summary of Internet trends for 2011 and beyond. If you have time watch the video and in my next few posts I will provide a summary of her main points along with my view on what this could mean for your business or development project.
I have been catching up on the great talks published by Web2.0 Summit that was on in San Francisco this week. Developments in mobile web, the cloud and social media over the last 18 months have lead to data being captured on a scale never before seen…It was asserted that more data has been captured and stored over the last 12 months than in the history of the web. Accordingly the theme of the summit this year was on ‘how companies leverage data’.
One talk worth sharing because in the difference in perspective is by anthropologist Genevieve Bell from Intel Corporation. As opposed to viewing data as something that is gathered and stored in a data farm, Genevieve asks ‘who is data and if it was a person who would it be like?’ to better understand the personality traits of data.
There are eight traits of data according to Bell:
Data resists being ‘digital’ and represents real things.
Data loves a good relationship and is social.
Data has a country – location / context is important.
Data is feral – privacy, security, beyond control.
Data has responsibilities – telling story comes with responsibility to tell it with the right spirit.
Data likes to look good – people lie about themselves to make them look best to others (100% of people lie in US online dating profiles).
Data does not last forever – ramifications on design.
There will always be new data.
What if we design for data the way we design for people?
The points listed provide a summary but you’ll get most value watching the video.
So you are at a social gathering, catching up with old friends and having a good time and then this school mate enters the room. She starts talking about this great new system/product/scheme and how it’s going to change your life / make you independently rich / introduce you to some inspiring new people. Continue reading →
Every now and then I get excited by an amazing new app that shifts the status quo and today I discovered one called Prezi. The site delivers a brand new approach to setting up presentations and it’s good to see something that offers a real alternative to PowerPoint. If you do presentations then give Prezi and go and it’s sure to WOW your clients! Continue reading →
Earlier today I came across a talk by the Marc Pincus from Zynga at this years Web2.0 Summit. If you have 10 minutes it is well worthwhile taking a look.
In the presentation Mark highlights the movement from Web1.0, with links and banner ads being the path to revenue, to Web2.0 with currency and monitization coming from SEO, SEM and Google Ad Sense and Ad Words. He goes on to describe new Web3.0 Third business plan of the internet that is generating revenue from the “app economy”.
In this app ecomony, Mark talks about how sellers of the future will increasingly use social media and friends/network sharing for sales of product and become less reliant on Google ad clicks. I believe that we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg both in relation to Google type advertising and social media generated sales and that the market for both approaches is still in it’s infancy.
eMarketer published a report called Hopes and Fears of Social Media Marketing yesterday covering how US Web retailers plan to use social media and community building tools in the coming year. The report suggests that web retailers surveyed are accelerating their use of, and commitment to, social media.
96% of online retailers surveyed currently employ or plan to employ Facebook Fan Pages within the next 12 months, and 84% plan to use Twitter for publishing.
The report provides strong evidence that retailers are understanding the importance of Social Media and avoiding Social Media is becoming less of an option. According to an August ’09 study, the top Social Media networks being embraced include:
The growth of SMS marketing has been incredible over the last decade and the benefits of SMS to business cannot be questioned.
There’s the reminder SMS I get from Hair Room or Back in Line Chiropractic each time I have an appointment. Great for business because it’s a cheap way to confirm appointments and reduce the costly no-shows. Continue reading →
Recently I discovered a magic tool called YouSendIt. YouSendIt allows you to easily deliver files larger than what your email service allows.
The express version that i have been using works really well as it prevents the need for uploading large files to FTP space and then trying to explain to the person on the other end how to download the file. For a full review click here.
The interface is simple and easy to use and once you download the software, if you right click on a document in Explorer or Finder the ‘Send by YouSendit’ option appears as a shortcut. I love this feature as it cuts the steps for sending files down to a single click of the mouse.
This a great small business tool for any business that needs to send documents larger than 2MB.
For more updates please follow me by visiting the following:
![Mary Meeker2019s 2011 Presentation On Internet Trends [Slides] | TechCrunch](https://img.skitch.com/20111025-pq7ayw1xwsrh8aqkcaf6994t4w.preview.jpg)
