Here at Focus PR weâre constantly monitoring trends and assessing which emerging tools and technologies are appropriate for integrating into client campaigns.  For instance, over the last couple of months location has been the big word in social media, with Facebook Places making its debut, journalists arguing about the usefulness of Foursquare and individuals either using or neglecting the Twitter location feature.  Potentially very useful for some clients, especially those with retail outlets, there are significant privacy issues associated with such technology so its still early days.
Other recent new (and, arguably, less controversial) arrivals on our radar are entertainment-based communities and social networks which are building on consumers’ desire to share online what they are currently watching, reading and listening to. Numerous Facebook fan pages and tweets are solid proof that people enjoy exchanging views, so new services created to capitalise on this trend seem like the natural consequence. Social networks like Philo or Get Glue (five million ratings in July alone) are built around users watching, chatting, commenting, rating and discovering what others are viewing.  Young people are certainly adept at multi-tasking their entertainment, frequently surfing the web, chatting online, watching TV and listening to music simultaneously, so itâs easy to see why these new sites are attracting and engaging users.
And with the ultimate water-cooler TV â X Factor â just starting its 2010 run, this trend could be about to get a whole lot more popular.
Tags: entertainment, Focus PR, Get Glue, location-based techologies, Philo, social media, social networks