Change is the only constant in the online frontier of social media - the landscape sees endless shifting between newly-formed companies, acquired entities, and failures, requiring a keen understanding of current conditions for all businesses using any form of social media.
Brian Solis, of Altimeter Group, has long shared such understanding with legions of readers and clients. Since 2008, one of the key components of this shared understanding has been a graphic covering the various companies serving online - the Conversation Prism.
Now in its fourth iteration, the Prism wrangles the tentacles of social and ties them up in one easier-to-consume diagram.
Here's where social conversations happen in 2013:
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Each slice in the prism represents one element of the online ecosystem: from Business to Social Curation to Crowd Wisdom, each fiefdom has its own area.
As the reader moves from the outside in, the graphic starts to reflect its key utility: identifying new means of engagement for marketers.
Adapting, Listening and Learning are the three core areas for engaging on social channels, all of which achieve various business goals near the middle of the Prism.
The tenets of Transparency, Value, Commitment, Vision, and Purpose are at the very center of the graphic - suggesting the author's clear belief that these are the essential beginnings of any social interaction. By placing the reader at the center of the graphic, the emphasis is on outward radiation - or the process of individual creation and contribution on social platforms.
Another area to consider for marketers seeking a more cohesive understanding of the social trends of the moment is the categories themselves.
As the online world begins to further enhance the real world via physical products, the landscape may move even more rapidly. Items like FitBit and NikeFuel have combined the capabilities of the Internet with the utility of a physical product, and have created a whole new area, dubbed here "Quantified Self."
Wearable technology, such as Google Glass and iWatch, are continued examples of this growing space.
As Solis himself points out in an article outlining the Human API, these devices begin to connect the elements of human actions online and off - requiring an evolution in defining "social media." Actual human actions - not just creative output - can become social currency once again.
Products such as Fitbit and also Nike’s FuelBand build upon the Human API by collecting the digital breadcrumbs of users and assembling them in a way that makes sense of daily activity and validates progress.
Perhaps more importantly, these devices, the data they collect and present, and the social relationships linked by publishing this information in social channels drives the ongoing pursuit of goals, and brings people together to help one another live better.
As these devices are connected socially, experiences become the epicenter of engagement and encouragement, inspiring people and networks of people through extended relationships along the way. Imagine if they could also talk to one another…across devices and also across the various contexts of usage, personal, professional, medical, etc.
One of the most revealing facts of this latest Conversation Prism is how it compares to version 3.0: 122 services have been removed, with 111 new ones added. That means there is only a slight net negative gain - either showing the continued frenzied pace at creation/destruction (most likely) or the very beginnings of a more measured, slow-growth approach to building social services (more doubtful).
For comparison purposes, here is the 3.0 version, with many other changes that reveal ongoing trends in the space. Virtual Worlds, anybody?