OUR cover story this week should (if we did our job right) convince you that social media has really made an impact in the lives of youths (and adults) around the world.

Mainstream Malaysia was introduced to social media in a big way in 2009. This year, however, has been special with new applications created, networks built and upgrades made.

In last week’s What The Tweet, my friend (and co-conspirator in this column) David Lian wrote about the social media highlights of 2010.
This time around, let’s – dare I use the term – predict what we can expect from these networks in the coming days (or, at least, what I’d like to see).
Micro-blogging
Many people who consider Twitter a micro-blogging service might think that 2009 was its year. Except that it’s not.
Granted, Twitter was like blogging (in 140 characters) but a closer relative would actually be a service like Tumblr, which allows you to post videos and pictures, share quotes and jot down your thoughts in a much more concise format than regular blogging.
This year was a really good year for Tumblr, hitting the two million posts a day mark in March. If it maintained its retention rate similar to 2009 at 85% (compared to Twitter’s 45% then) according to Wikipedia, then 2011 will be a good year.

This will be more significant as traditional blogging slows down with bloggers embracing (and relying) on other social media networks. The rise of Tumblr-like themes for regular blogs is a pretty big sign of this move forward.
For the blogging world, 2011 will be the year of micro-blogging (look out for more apps, especially ones that allows people to update their blogs on the go).
Table devices
Speaking of on the go, 2011 will also be the year of tablet devices. Already, Malaysians are awaiting the PlayBook (by BlackBerry makers RIM) and rumours of the iPad 2’s early release in 2011 has gotten Apple fanboys and girls salivating.

According to reports, Apple has recently been granted with a patent for “a new and advance method of multi-touch input, through manipulation of three-dimensional holograms that can be touched by a user.”
Holograms! Now, that is exciting – although I doubt we will see it all that soon in the coming year.
Yet, the rise of tablets is not only going to change the face of mobile technology (and competition), but also in the number of apps. In the end, I feel the users are the winners especially with so many applications starting to emerge that will bridge the different operating systems such as Apple, BlackBerry and the growing-in-popularity Adroid.
Many people are waiting to see which game will become next year’s Angry Birds, but I wouldn’t dare venture a guess for that.
Personally, I am looking forward to more picture-related applications (besides the many games of course).
Photo-sharing
My colum a couple of weeks ago spoke about the latest buzz in photo-sharing called instagr.am. Its biggest selling point, aside from its ability to cross post into other major social media networks like Facebook and Twitter, is the ability to convert your pictures to give it an “old-school” feel.
Some people feel that it is this feature that will also lead to the death of the application, as it makes it more of a trend. Still, playing its cards right, instagr.am could add new features to make it an even bigger hit. I would assume that the next few updates will include photo-tagging and more editing capabilities.
There will be other similar applications that will emerge, of course, but instragr.am, unlike some other photo-sharing apps, already has a community of its own and the advantage of being ahead.
I’d like to see Flickr, with all its might, get into the game as well but unfortunately, don’t see it happening in the new future considering the problems Yahoo! (which owns Flickr) is going through at the moment.
Geo-location applications
This is going to be massive next year. Mobile devices are the “it” items of the current generation and this will propel geo-location even further. Leading the charge in 2011 – especially in Malaysia – will not be Foursquare but Facebook.
Having launched Facebook Places this year in selected countries, it is only natural that it rolls out to the rest of the world in the next 12 months (in Malaysia, BlackBerry users can already check in on Places).
This will be in line with Facebook’s introduction of Facebook Deals, a system similar to Foursquare Specials where business locations you check-in at might offer you special deals for being there. Locally, the Specials never really kicked off but Facebook Deals could change this, considering the brand name it is associated to, its popularity and sheer number of people registered with the social network.
Bulk purchase
Speaking of deals, online shopping is just about to get more exciting. Already, 2010 saw the emergence of Groupon, a start-up that brings Internet users who wish to purchase similar items together to make purchases in bulk. This then translates into cheaper items.
In Malaysia, there are several companies who have jumped on the bandwagon. It is still too early to speak of its performance but considering the number of online blogshops that Malaysia has and the introduction of online shopping centre Jipaban.com by the founders of blog community Nuffnang, it is safe to say that there is an online shopping culture in our country.
And hey, we could always do with better deals, no?
q Hang on tight to your smartphones, folks, and get ready for 2011 and beyond. See you then! For updates, head over to blog.rage.com.my.