Where is social going? Here, on the eve of our 6th anniversary, are my thoughts -
Meet the creators: Video is the language of social.

Meet Mike Corey (pictured right). He's a 26 year-old videographer who loves to travel from Toronto, Canada.
Recently he used his previous body of user-generated-content to win the Cathay Pacific Around the World in 80 Days Competition, and subsequently, had a trip of a lifetime, gathered more fans around the world, and created a ton of great content to bring the Cathay brand to a new generation of travelers.
Mike is now up for a hosting gig for a reality show in Canada. Good luck, Mike.
Meet Bunyao "Bruce" Liu (pictured left). He's from Hsin-Chu,Taiwan.

He posted his student project at Savannah College of Art and Design, "Deadline," on YouTube in 2009. It was a stop-motion animation short film using Post-It notes.
Today, as one of the most popular video of that genre, it has garnered over five million views, making him a highly sought after director. The Taiwanese government recently commissioned him to make a piece for its Centennial Celebration, you can see it here.
The awesome thing is … Bruce is only 26-years old, and he has already travelled the world to tell brand stories. Enjoy his follow-up, Sticking Close to You
Meet Dan Savage. He's a 47-year old gay American author. He and his husband created a video on YouTube for bullied teenagers, telling them that "It Gets Better" in response to numerous teens that had committed suicide. The video started a movement, and has gathered over 20,000 video entries, including messages of hope from Barack Obama, and employees of Apple
Mike, Bruce, and Dan are the future creators of social – they represent a new generation of global citizens who use videos to shape our views of the world, and each other, through their eyes. Each of them expressed a relatable point-of-view in a special way. And through their views, we were inspired, entertained, and moved. Each is a reporter, a studio, a network, and a broadcast channel. You may never meet them, and they may never have another hit, but their digital footprints have already made an impact on the world through social.
Truthfulness of the content: Jackie Chan is not dead, again!
How many times can a person die? If you're Jackie Chan (pictured right), the answer is twice (so far), just in 2011. In March, Chan's heart attack was widely tweeted; except he hadn't suffered an attack. In August, an "RIP Jackie Chan" Facebook page started. Today, it has more than 400,000 fans. But as of the writing of this post, he is still alive.
There are truths, lies, and then, there are opinions. Political campaigns have tried to obscure truths via opinions and validate lies with opinions. Like magicians using sleigh-of-hand to create illusions, people in power, or wanting to be in power, are good at using data and their opinions to create a belief that eventually become accepted truths.
Here are some examples from past and current history:
- Earth is flat.
- Stomach ulcers are caused by stress, alcohol, and spicy food.
- The HPV vaccine causes mental retardation.
Because we arrive at a certain belief by connecting dots of information, people who are good at manufacturing ‘believable or hard-to-verify content that looks like information' are particularly dangerous in social.
The NewYork Times, a venerable publisher, has the motto, "All the news that's fit to print." This is an ethos that has generally worked over the years, and we accept what's published as nuggets of fact. However, social media, which contains way more content, has more opinions than facts. A lot of harm can be done when opinions are interpreted, or worse, misrepresented as facts, particularly as they relate to one's health, family, finances, security, culture, religion, and government.
There are a lot of opinionated people. Intentional or not, they can obscure truths.The mosaic of their opinions creates "truthiness". If you want to rely on opinions, you'll need to step back to see what the mosaic of information is really showing.
Hence, ambiguity of veracity is the future of social. Jackie Chan – may you live in peace without another death hoax.
The trusting consumers: We are babiesIn the age of social, consumers have access to what effectively is an infinite source of content for every purpose created by ever more people who reporting news and telling stories at all times and from everywhere. On the other hand, consumers will have to sort through an unprecedented amount of information to discern between truths, lies, and opinions. How will it happen without the rational mind exploding?
Full story:
www.webintravel.com/blog/the-future-of-social-learn-from-cavemen-and-babies_2106