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2012 Predictions
2012 is the year that the Mayans predicted would be the end of time, the year Obama goes up for re-election, and the year of the London Olympics. While some predictions are more probable than others, having an eye on the future is a fun (and potentially very profitablel!) thing to do for your small business. We asked the Web123 team what they expect to see in 2012, and here are our “professional predictions” for 2012 on everything from websites, marketing, zombies, Justin Bieber, and world domination.
Elise, Production Manager
Full-Flash websites will become extinct.
We'll see the death of advertising on company websites. Facebook will still have ads but their revenue will drop as people rely more on their friends and networks for product advice rather than clicking on advertising.
Simon W, Production Dude
I think Facebook usage will start to decrease. Whether this is due to more privacy issues (or similar) or more competition from the likes of Google +
I'm not sure. Also, There will be more competition in the Social Media industry, and I'm going to take a punt in saying that Google+ will become a more significant player due to its obvious links with Google and search results. As more functionality is added for businesses/brands, i can see this taking off.
A new type of captcha will be created which are easier for humans to successfully pass but harder for computers/bots (I'm tired of guessing whether that circle covered in lines and dots is a 0 or an O!)
The buzz behind 'Cloud Computing' will continue to grow and more and more businesses will move their IT infrastructure to the 'cloud'.
The government will decide that Australians buying from online shops overseas is perfectly fine and that brick-and-mortar shops will just have to be more competitive to win back consumers.
Pete, Junior Designer
Google and facebook are going to go to war, twitter is going to slowly decline
Social media is going to be further integrated into our lives through home devices
Someone is finally going to take advantage of the fact that 86% of mobile internet users are using a smart phone / mobile device while watching tv and integrate the 2 devices in some way
Streaming video will progress to true HD (1080p) and Divx encoding will be made redundant by a new form of streaming compression
The popularity of "cloud devices" will increase considerably and the sales of personal computers (towers) will be eclipsed by the sales of netbooks and similar products
Reece, Head Designer
With 2012 looming, it is only fitting that we should look ahead and fill people in with the future of the web and technology industry. 2012 will see the rise of a mega race of 3ft tall super humans. I am not just mentioning this as it is a cool fact that you can share with your friends over dinner, but also because it seems that this industry will be completely absorbed by the 3ft tall super humans. No longer will you receive the wonderful 'geek speak' from the majority of web providers you are used to. No in 2012 you will receive 'super geek speak' but it will also be in another completely new language.
Social media will more than likely go out of fashion in 2012 as people realise that they are unable to fit anything bigger than an iPad in their carry bags, and as technology continues to progress, the option of carrying around something as big as another human will become 'uncool'.
Scott, (soon to be former?) Sales Guy
Most of you will be fired, lol. Some might get promoted. Merry Xmas.
Valissa, Social Media Manager
Content strategy will overtake the traditional marketing norm of “campaigns”. Businesses will shift their focus to being curators of content, rather than creators. That means being in the know will be even more important than getting the lead story in.
Facebook will release a social web browser, and it will put everyone into a privacy panic. (Just think about how much information Google has on the world from web browsing! Combine that with Facebook’s notorious social datamining and you’ve got a killer combo!) This social web browser will also have a major impact on PPC. Facebook will also reinvent business pages yet again, pulling in elements from Timeline that allow for companies to tell the history of their business and not just the daily specials.
Geo will be the next big thing in Australia. Foursquare and Facebook Places have already taken off, but 2012 will be their year. Smartphones are THE essential tech tool for Australians, and they will increase use of location-based services to research and connect with local businesses.
Daniel, Web Support
If SOPA passes... Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, Reddit and any other social media site will be heavily censored and or dead. If it doesn't the internet will be a happy prosperous place :)
Predicting a massive comeback of Disco music, flared bottom jeans and the all mighty afro.
Justin Bieber will finally hit puberty and fade into obscurity like that kid from home alone. He will later be found hosting game shows in Japan.
Lady Gaga will run for mayor of NYC, win in a landslide, turn all streetlights into strobes, then allow cats to marry dogs. Total anarchy.
Massive heat waves will hit Melbourne around December 2012. One person will fall ill to a strange virus, die, and comes back to life as a zombie... Predictions for 2013, Zombie Apocalypse!
Claire, Project Manager
My 2012 web prediction - I will be doing A LOT MORE shopping online, so small businesses better be ready for me!
Sarah, Marketing Manager
The survival of Small Businesses will rely on whether or not they are selling and being found online. Online Shopping will increase in 2012 significantly and Australians will be looking at purchasing more and more from overseas – due to affordability.
2012 will see the beginning of the fall of Apple and the rise of Samsung.
Work-wise, 2012 will start to favour life over work and more vacations will be in order and a four day work week won’t be uncommon.
Marketing will become a bigger player within small businesses – currently time spent on marketing in a small business is around 13%, this will rise to around 50%.
Kieran, IT Director
Venus to lose its status as a planet in continued anti-planetary hostilities by bureaucrats.
Iceland to invade Ecuador.
While some of these predictions are more probable than others, that's our story and we're sticking to it! What do you think? Are we on to something?
Leave your 2012 comments below or join the conversation on our Facebook page.
About the Author
Valissa Warren
Valissa Warren is a creative web geek, linguist, and nomad. Valissa suffers happily from wanderlust, but whenever the dust settles she likes to pretend she's a master chef, explore artisan markets, and analyze bilingual linguistics in social media.
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