The future, blogs and a tasty Apple treat

25/11/09 posted by Liz Niland

This week, a who’s who of the internet’s most cherished personalities gathered at the Said Business School in Oxford. Discussing social media and possible candidates for the net’s Next Big Thing, notable speakers included Peter Thiel (the co-founder of Paypal), Biz Stone (Twitter’s CEO) and Reid Hoffman (founder of LinkedIn).

The general consensus was that social media is yet to reach its absolute peak. As reported in the Guardian, “There are now enough social networks to fill all the obvious niches; but making use of the stream of information that pours into them is something we've only just started.” The way we as individuals publish content has changed and so then must the way in which traditional media providers exist and deliver content also change accordingly. Social media still has a long way to go before we can fully understand its possibilities.

In Twitter news, it appears conventional blogs (such as this one) are still going strong, while microblogging site Twitter’s initial astronomical growth is starting to flatten out. Although, as reported on TechCrunch, the idea of publishing a single sentence should be more alluring to modern internet users, the option of a meatier, lengthier collection of ideas is still desired by many users. A business blog in particular provides a good accompaniment to a Twitter account while also keeping the content on your site fresh and interesting.

If you’re already on the Christmas present hunt, and considering investing in an Apple product for someone, this Friday November 27 is your day. Generally the Thanksgiving/Black Friday bargains are reserved for American residents only, but this year Australia is lucky enough to grab a piece of the cut-price pie.