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This is the third guest blog post about social media and online communications predictions for 2009 and our contributor is Brendan Hughes.

While the past few years have seen a proliferation of social media tools – blogs, micro-blogs, social networks, discussion boards, podcasts and virtual realities – I look forward to a convergence of these tools and technologies in 2009 and beyond.

As I look back on the development of social media in an Irish context during 2008 I am conscious of how much it has come into our mainstream thinking and language. More and more people that I talk to know what Facebook, Bebo and LinkedIn are.

Downloading and listening to video and audio podcasts is something most Internet users seem comfortable with.

Having your own personal blog no longer seems unusual and Twitter is now starting to generate the kind of curiosity that Facebook did back in 2007.

2008 then has been a year of growth for social media in Ireland with greater numbers of us becoming familiar with the range of tools that are available.

Irish businesses have also started to use social media to support their marketing and communications activities. It is particularly interesting to see some larger Irish companies dipping their toes in the waters. Household names such as RecruitIreland, Paddy Power, Pat the Baker, Toyota, RaboDirect, The Irish Times and FBD Insurance, to name but a few, have all run high profile social media campaigns in 2008.

I have been asked many times over the past year why I invest my own time and that of my company in social media. On both fronts the answer is the same – social media is first and foremost about making connections.

Personally in 2008, I have made connections with dozens of like-minded people who I share an interest with, either social or business. The brands I work for have also now made connections with many of their customers who are online. In essence there is nothing really new about social media. We are taking the activities we traditionally engaged in face-to-face in the pub or in our retail outlets, and now we are doing them online. The technologies however do give us the ability to reach more people more quickly and in more engaging ways than ever before.

2009 will see the IIA Social Media Working Group tease out the opportunities presented by social media for Irish businesses. We plan to launch our first whitepaper on Blogging early in the New Year, to be followed by further whitepapers on Social Networks, Podcasting and RSS. We also intend to run events during the year to help Irish businesses figure out the most appropriate way for them to engage with social media. I don’t believe that businesses should consider social media in the same way as either traditional PR or advertising.

The one-to-many communications models have been supplanted by a one-to-one model, and this presents a challenge to all marketers and communications practitioners. The Social Media Working Group has provided a platform for me personally to develop my understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of these new media. I hope that we will be able to extend this to a much wider audience over the coming months.

While 2008 has seen us all become a little more familiar with the social media tools that exist, I hope (rather than predict) that 2009 will see a simplification of all of this for users. The lingo and jargon that can surround new technologies often acts as a barrier to entry for many. The multitude of tools also provides an obstacle as many struggle to keep up.

While most of us will settle on one or two tools and largely ignore the rest, there is I believe a great opportunity for a technology or a business (Irish hopefully) to assist with the convergence of the major social media tools.

RSS for example, helps me personally to simultaneously update my Twitter, Facebook and blog “status updates” via a single interface. I also use RSS to alert me whenever my brands are mentioned online whether it is in a blog, on Twitter or on a news website. A single tool or application that can help to manage all our social media engagements would be most welcome… and successful.

Similarly I see (or hope for) a greater convergence of hardware that will make social media more accessible more of the time. My mobile phone, my laptop, my “netbook” and my PC are all doing very similar jobs for me. Each gives me access to the range of social media I subscribe to at the level I need it a different times. While I’ll never write a blog post on my mobile, I will happily update my “status” in 140 characters.

Combining the video and GPS capabilities, for example, embedded in most new mobile phones opens up endless possibilities for social networking anytime and anywhere. Knowing when your friends are around, and having the ability to meet new people who share your interests will see social media bring us back full circle to the face-to-face chatter that Irish people enjoy.

I don’t claim to be an expert in social media, but like many others I am excited about the potential that exists both socially and professionally for those who do engage with it.

ABOUT THE GUEST BLOGGER

Brendan Hughes is e-Commerce Manager with FBD Insurance and is also chair of the Irish Internet Association’s Social Media Working Group.

He authors his own blog and can be found on Twitter @brendanhughes or at LinkedIn.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Access the previous 2009 social media and online engagement articles by:

• Mark Congiusta
• John Breslin