Must have been a good red Martin Neumann chose, to assist him in coming up with a very interesting set of seven predictions for blogging in 2007.
1. Blogging will Peak in 2007, Settle and Start to Mature
2. The Rise of the Group Blog
3. Blogging Metrics will be a Big Talking Point and Advances Will be Made
4. Small Business will Understand the Cost-Effectiveness of Blogging More so than Ever
5. Social Networking will Slow (slightly) and some Backlash may Ensue
6. RSS will still Struggle to get a Foothold in the Mainstream
7. The Echo Chamber is Alive & Kicking … and Needs to Be Broken
The whole post is worth a read and a ponder. I was pleased particularly with Martin’s confidence in the future of the b5media blogging network of which this blog is part. Also pleasing were his comments about blogging and small business:
…2007 will see small business finally catch on that engaging with their customers and prospects in a conversational way is the way of the future. It’s what the customer is demanding.
Martin has actually added an eighth, bonus prediction.
I have another:
Companies offering blogging systems or tools for corporations will be expected to provide security/administrative features to satisfy more stringent requirements of transparent risk management.
There is hardly a question that the very openness and interactivity, the democracy if you will, of blogging means that in the corporate context there is prima facie a higher degree of risk than from traditional websites.
New, appropriate protocols of administration and risk management will need to be developed and leaving that to corporate counsel and the IT people will not be an effective solution in business terms. The issue will need top level management overview and decisions. That means in turn that business owners and senior executives who are not yet really au fait with blogging better get weaving, real soon now.
[...] Des Walsh also mentioned Martin Neumann’s prediction in his Business and Blogging Blog. [...]
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I counter Martin’s first prognostication with one of my own: Blogging won’t peak in 2007. Like peanut butter over a slice of bread, it has spread widely. In 2007, it will go deep within verticals. Real estate is one prime example. There will be real growth in that industry this next year. Other verticals will follow suit.
I will say this…blogs, which have been the forerunner and centerpiece of this new phenomena called social media, will become more interwoven with the other forms. Not that it will lose its distinctiveness as a type of social media, it will merely mature to the point its just expected to be part of any social media application.
Blogs have ceased to be the “next big thing,” and have become commonplace. If people haven’t actually read a blog, they’ve at least heard of them. Well, most anyway. But, peak? No, not yet. Give it another year before that happens.
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