GlobalWebIndex are generously sponsoring Social Media Week.
We spoke with Tom Smith, CEO of GlobalWebIndex, an online tool populated with the most detailed set of research data for marketers helping them understand target audience, business category and market trends wherever they are in the world. Tom is speaking at Apps Go Social and Measuring Social Media and took a few minutes out to share his perspective on social media.
Q: Tell us about your background with Global Web Index and what the organisation’s major goals are for 2011.
I founded the GlobalWebIndex research project back in 2009, to provide agencies and marketing focused organisations, with clear and quantifiable global data on the evolution of consumer internet adoption, attitudes and motivations. Basically to cut through the hype. Our major goals in 2011, are to expand our current client base, expand the scope of the research to over 30 markets and of course help define the direction of internet trends. We are also making a major push this year to redefine how we distribute our research to clients, making data far more accessible.
Q: When and why did Global Web Index first get involved with Social Media Week?
We got involved last week, primarily because it’s a global platform, which fits our focus. This year we’re looking at London, as we’re based here, but next year we would like to expand that. We are very focused on social media in our research, so that makes sense. We also liked the nature of the event, which is more distributed and less like conventional events.
Q: What is a major trend you see rising in the Social Media space?
We’ve talked alot about changing evolution of social media, which thanks to “real-time” platforms like Twitter, is now far more about sharing and reacting, rather than publishing and creating. Blogs and forums are in decline, micro-blogs and social networks are on the rise. Peoples social contribution is much smaller and the focus of social media has changed.
Q: What platforms are you really excited about?
We love Tumblr in the office, great for a more casual form of publishing. Longer term, we’re excited about the prospects of Youview, which integrates internet services and social technologies with traditional TV content. Will be really interesting to see how that works out.
Q: What are you looking forward to the most during Social Media Week 2011?
All the events look interesting, it’s just finding the time to get around
Q: Where do you see the future of Social Media?
The integration of social technologies with the distribution platforms of traditional media, is really exciting. Magazine or newspaper apps on tablets or TV programming and films distributed via internet connection TVs, will increasingly be integrated with social technologies. This means your network, or people like you will increasingly define all content you consume, and extending the reach of social media out of the browser.
GlobalWebIndex are sponsoring Apps Go Social on Monday 7th Feb, 12-2pm.
The apps market is going from strength to strength, with brands dominating the space, the next generation of apps are increasingly becoming more social integrating; checkin’s, likes and recommendation engines to add extra value to the user, any time any where.
