Mega-trend Connected World
Social media are the DNA of modern societies. They permeate every aspect of everyday life and are an unstoppable disruptor of cultural and societal processes. The functions of social networks go far beyond communication proper.
Crowd actions
Crowd actions are a way for people to come together to develop and finance ideas or collective initiatives. Intelligent matching finds matches, be it a new employer or a new partner. Data analysis in social networks helps anyone to find what they are looking for fast.
Life sharing
The construction and sharing of an identity specially created for social media is now part of many people’s life plan (life sharing). Not only does it shape opinions through “influencing” but, at the same time, brings in an income. The operators use all means and more and more new features in a targeted fashion to keep users on the particular platform (social channel evolution). Gaming especially is ideal for connecting players via various genres of games and, at the same time, serve as a platform for more and more new social features and actions.
Closed-context communities
In parallel with this, social media create closed-context communities, which, although they use social platforms, develop filter bubbles with their own cultural codes. In them, clusters of topics are discussed in a monocausal manner and are communicated externally with the conviction gained from the community.
Mega-trend Connected World and its macro-trends
As a long-term sign of change, each mega-trend emerges in the form of medium-term macro-trends. Depending on factors like technological development, research status and societal acceptance, the macro-trends need different lengths of time for mainstream adoption.
Exclusively in the Trendexplorer: Macro-trend deep dive
- Drivers of Innovation
- Degree of maturity/mainstream adoption
- Challenges for different industries
- Opportunities for different industries