AC Experts: Top Tech and Social Media Trends to Watch for in 2015

Posted on Friday, December 19th, 2014

DHall Social media predictions

David Hall, Professor in the Algonquin College Public Relations program and communications blogger, provides his look ahead at 2015.

(Ottawa, December 19, 2014) Wearable tech and the music industry could be in for a bumpy ride in 2015, while content marketing and higher education technology is expected to be #trending according to Professor David Hall.

Below are excerpts from his 4.5 tech and social media predictions for 2015 – visit davidhallsocialmedia.com for full details!

1. Wearables will not live up to expectations. “I’m thinking that these products may fall below expectations because: first, the price point. Google Glass is selling for around $2,000 on Amazon.com, and smart watches range from about $100, but if you want a watch with good two-way connectivity, you’ll be putting out a couple hundred dollars for these watches. I’m not convinced that the average Jane or Joe will opt to fork out another couple hundred bucks for an accessory for their smartphone, which already set them back close to $1,000.”

2. Continued innovation in the content marketing space: “My absolute favourite example of content marketingis Lowes’ Fix in Six campaign on Vine. Besides the recent Black Friday deals listed on the channel, the vast majority of the content is quick little tips for easy home improvements. This is THE example I use to demonstrate what content marketing looks like in my Social Media Management course.”

3. Music industry fails to embrace new distribution methods and continues to whine about profits. “…musicians have taken a combative approach to the new technology with an interest to protect their profits veiled as an interest to protect the music from the vile people who want to share it in a way that doesn’t fit into the existing business model. My gut tells me that we haven’t heard the last from Taylor Swift on this issue, and if history serves as a guide, this won’t be the last time a hugely successful artist challenges new technology for a bigger part of the pie.”

4. Increased tech invading the education space: “In the months and years to come I envision that we will see more collaboration between for-profit businesses and our not-for-profit education sector. Mobile devices and eTexts will continue to proliferate in the classroom. The real story in all of this will not be the existence of new education technology – that’s a given. Instead, the success of this technology will depend on how curious professors, instructors, and teachers adapt it to serve the needs of their students.”

4.5 More social media meltdowns: This one only gets half a point because it’s just inevitable; this prediction is as difficult as saying that there will be hockey in Canada this winter. The reason I included it is, yes they are entertaining, but even more so they are great reminders of the power of social media and the importance of managing your online reputation. Whether it’s something on the global scale of the Justine Sacco saga that caught the world’s attention at around the turn of 2014, or something as benign as a football player’s Twitter account being hacked and a few funny tweets sent out on his behalf, it will happen again in 2015. I’ll be waiting with popcorn in hand.”

Read more of Dave’s thoughts here.


Comments

Comments are closed.