8 social media trends for 2012

1. Reporting to all stakeholders. At the PRSA conference this year, I had an interesting conversation with Dan Tisch, who is serving as president of Global Alliance. He said that some countries, such as Australia, are reporting to all stakeholders. Meaning, they’re not just doing investor relations, but reporting results to employees, customers, prospects, influencers, and more. This is going to become a trend, especially as accounting principles are looking to include brand awareness as part of the balance sheet.

2. Social TV convergence. I’m not a television watcher, but there’s something interesting happening with apps, such as Get Glue. You can “check in” to a TV program and then have conversations with people around the world who are watching the same thing. It allows you to review the shows, talk about what’s happening, and listen to what others are saying. It works for movies and music, too. Plus, if the rumors are true and Steve Jobs’s last project was iTV, this will become huge next year.