T

R.AGE

STARTWO, WEdNESdAy 29 dECEmBER 2010

The future has arrived

By NIKI CHEONG

UR 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 weeks What The Tweet, my
friend (and co-conspirator in this
column) David Lian wrote about the
social media highlights of 2010.
This time around, lets dare I use
the term predict what we can expect
from these networks in the coming
days (or, at least, what Id like to see).

niki@thestar.com.my

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).

Micro-blogging
Many people who consider Twitter a
micro-blogging service might think that 2009
was its year. Except that its 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 Twitters 45%
then) according to Wikipedia, then 2011 will

Table devices
Speaking of on the go, 2011 will
also be the year of tablet devices.
Already, Malaysians are awaiting the

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PlayBook (by BlackBerry makers RIM) and

rumours of the iPad 2s 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 years Angry Birds, but
I wouldnt dare venture a guess for that.
Personally, I am looking forward to more
picture-related applications (besides the
many games of course).

Photo-sharing

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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 phototagging 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.
Id like to see Flickr, with all its might, get
into the game as well but unfortunately, dont

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 Facebooks 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.