Social Media Trends 2014

As 2014 begins, we are sure to see new social media platforms emerge, some current ones disappear, and social media trends begin to take off. Below are some of the new trends and changes we can expect to see as we turn the page into 2014.

Images will beat out words for engagement

Many experts in the field of social media and marketing see the growth and potential of images. Social platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest will continue to be key for marketing and dialoging with consumers. Other imaging sites like Slideshare, Tumblr, and Path have seen success in 2013 and will continue to emerge as key channels for companies to reach their target audiences. A picture is worth 1,000 words.

Searching

Many are familiar with the term Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and you can expect to be more familiar with it in 2014. SEO will be driven by content and as we all heard in 2013, content is king. We could write numerous articles on what content-driven SEO means but to put it simply: think in terms of topics, not just key words.

Another interesting prediction for 2014; #hashtag searching. Will it happen? It remains to be seen in #2014.

Mobile, Mobile, Mobile

Mobile marketing and advertising are some of the most talked about topics today in the marketing, public relations, and advertising fields. And they are not going away. In fact, many experts predict digital marketing (i.e., mobile phone, tablet) to surpass traditional marketing budget and as for advertising; it's gone native. Native advertising has "happened" already but expect it to make a bigger splash in 2014.

Growth for some, disappearance for others

Though Google+ is not the size of Facebook and Twitter, it is growing rapidly. At the end of October 2013, Google+ registered 540 million monthly active users and the its growth does not appear to be slowing down. On the other hand, the location-based app, Foursquare, has been experienced trouble throughout the last year or so as other social media giants such as Facebook offering the option to "check-in" or notify others of your location. Some experts expect Foursquare to not be on the map by 2014's end, despite its recent roll-out of passive notifications. Its sustainability remains to be seen.

For more insight and other predicted trends of 2014 clickhere 

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Katie Joly 

Facebook is a Major Source of News

Facebook is not about just looking at pictures and liking pages anymore, it is where people get their news. In fact, as many of 30 percent of American adults consume news on Facebook according to a recent study released by the PEW Research Center.

As it turns out, most adults do not go on Facebook looking for news but read about it while using Facebook for other purposes. One respondent stated, "I believe Facebook is a good way to find out news without actually looking for it." The statement sums it up as the study reported 78 percent of respondents are on Facebook for other reasons when they get news.

It appears Facebook is a news source for people less likely to obtain news elsewhere, particularly those ages 18-29. The study found that this age group accounted for 34% of Facebook news consumers. This age group also considers the site an important source of news.

Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are changing the way for how news is distributed and consumed. With constant access to these sites either with a computer or mobile device, social network users can find out about natural disasters, a big sport trade, policy changes in the government, and the latest celebrity break-up within minutes of an outlet reporting it. As these sites and other sites like them continue to grow and develop, the world of news will likely continue being faster and more efficient.

The survey was conducted by PEW Research Center in collaboration with the Knight Foundation. They sampled 5,173 American adults between August 21, 2013-September 2, 2013.

Freelancing Trend Gets Enormous Boost

Freelancers are becoming a larger part of the workforce as companies move to reduce fixed overhead and people find that their growing access to instant information via changing electronic news media afford opportunities to work for a variety of clients at one time.

Two crowd sourcing giants that have grown their businesses over a few years to a combined total of $750 million in billings announced they will merge to make an even greater impact on the trend to freelancing.

The freelancing trend has attracted high interest from venture capitalists who have invested more than $130 million in the two firms since inception a few years ago.

They are Elance and ODesk and together they will have some 8 million freelancers in new combined but unnamed business.

The two firms say the merger will accelerate growth and enable their engineering and data science teams to better connect freelancers with the right opportunities.

"Amazon reinvented retail and the ways people buy and ITunes transformed the music industry. The merger of ODesk and Elance will greatly improve the way businesses hire and how people work collaboratively online," explained Elance chief executive Fabio Rosati who will become CEO of the merged firm.

The joining of our two firms will greatly improve how businesses hire qualified people and the flexibility of how people find work regardless of location," Rosati added.

Larry Eiler