Two Trends to Track in 2020

Angie Kellen, Director, Client Services, Open Sky Communications

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES), taking place in Las Vegas on Jan. 7-10, has become the launch pad for new and innovative technology and an indicator of what to watch for in the new year. With the event looming on the horizon, I wanted to get out in front of it and provide my predictions for what to watch for in 2020. For technology, clearly new 5G devices, 8K displays/TVs, advances in artificial intelligence as well as improvements on AR/VR products will dominate the news at CES and the technology publications for the remainder of the year. For this blog, I wanted to focus on two trends that are a bit in the shadows right now but that I feel are about to emerge more prominently in 2020.

The established social-media platforms will see a mass exodus

What? How can this be when even our President is burning up the Twitter-verse with his many tweets?  It turns out that I am not alone in this thinking. In an article by John Brandon of INC magazine, John makes this and a few other predictions for the new year. Unlike any other time in the company’s history, Facebook is in a weakened position and has come under fire by both consumers and the government.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, has been in the hot seat to answer questions around the platform’s standards and processes, which allow political ads to run with untrue content and fake news that is distributed by false accounts to appear on its site. Additionally, Zuckerberg was pressed on the ways the company monitors criminal activity and how it uses subscribers’ private data. Zuckerberg’s response to these questions on the public stage have forced many on the platform to delete their accounts and seek more private offerings. Twitter and Instagram have also been called out for fabricated accounts that spread fake news, as well as how they use subscriber data.

How did we get here? It all started when the platform’s promise to connect people evolved into a heavily, commercialized landscape. Facebook is an example of a social network that has become more about quantity and commercialization rather than a place to connect with friends and family. The platform’s actual viewership has slowed considerably in recent years, but its ad revenue jumped by 42 percent in early 2018, demonstrating the company’s ability to make money over its original goal to facilitate connections. 

Today’s social publishing environment rewards sensationalized content, which leaves its users vulnerable to dangerous propaganda and influence campaigns. Last year, teenagers filmed themselves ingesting Tide Pods as a means to gain more attention and followers, while Russian government operatives posted political propaganda on Facebook that reached 126 million Americans before the 2016 election in America. What was once seen as a harmless platform has morphed into a powerful tool that, due to confusing privacy policies, has set dangerous precedents for the future of social media.

Facebook users were furious when the third-party data firm Cambridge Analytica acquired personal data from as many as 87 million Facebook users — without their permission. While that breach was the most publicized, there have been additional breaches since. Consumers are more aware than ever and are taking action to keep their personal data private – in particular, hands-on parents that are concerned about what their children are being exposed to and if their private information is being sold. 

Building on all of this and supporting my mass exodus prediction is the fact that several new apps have emerged to take on these established social-media platforms where a few years ago new platform competitors seemingly just gave up. Timing is everything and there are companies seizing this unique opportunity. For example, Mastadon, which feels and operates more like Twitter, provides greater control over who can see your posts. Textile may be the most promising platform. While it’s not part of the federated internet, it is decentralized in its own way. You can upload a photo and add it to a collection, then you can specify who can see your collection. Just as easy to use as Instagram is PixelFed, where you can choose how you wish to share your photos and who can follow you.

From social media, we have learned that people still enjoy being connected to friends and family. By moving our personal relationships away from social media to networks that provide more control, security and privacy for personal data, the toxic environment goes away and consumers can get back to staying connected. There are more networks emerging every day that are providing a more secure and private alternative to the established social-media platforms. I believe that in 2020, the proliferation of new apps will provide attractive alternatives and send the large and established social-media platforms into a freefall.

Blockchain technology sees big adoption spike by businesses – raises demand for Blockchain experts

Earlier this year, I thought that blockchain technology was an interchangeable term for the cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. Later, I learned that this is not correct. Bitcoin is a digital currency and blockchain technology was developed to keep Bitcoin secure. In an article by Danielle Jackson, she explains that ‘blockchain is a public distributed ledger of linked records—or blocks—that are used to facilitate and record transactions across a peer-to-peer network. Each of these records is secured with cryptographic algorithms and time- and date-stamped. With blockchain technology, no existing block can be altered without altering subsequent blocks, creating a completely transparent record at every step of the way. It essentially lets users verify and keep track of transactions. It gives organizations a way to protect critical assets, prevent theft, eliminate human error, and bypass third-party processors.’

Still with me? Nikita Duggal’s article offers this explanation, ‘in the simplest of terms, blockchain can be described as data you can only add to, not take away from or change. Hence the term “chain” because you’re making a chain of data. Not being able to change the previous blocks is what makes it so secure. In addition, blockchains are consensus-driven, so no one entity can take control of the data.’ This particular explanation helped me to better understand blockchain.

While Bitcoin has experienced extreme ups and downs in value and popularity, blockchain technology is becoming a shining star on its own and is being investigated for use in other industries. Blockchain is capable of supporting various applications in related industries like finance, supply chain and manufacturing.

Who are the early adopters of blockchain technology?

Many financial services firms are currently using blockchain to improve back-office settlement systems, increase efficiency, and reduce costs. For supply chain management, as products change hands across a supply chain from manufacture to sale, transactions can be documented to reduce time delays, costs, and human error. Logistics and supply-chain management companies are increasingly looking into Blockchain technology to streamline processes and reduce errors. Blockchain in the food industry can help manufacturers and distributors avoid the spread of illnesses by using the tracking data to trace contamination issues back to where it started. This technology can protect everyone from the food processor to the retailer to the consumer. Walmart and Sam’s Club have already begun putting this technology into practice, both for supply-chain management and food safety. Blockchain technology can also help prevent the sale of illegal firearms on the black market. By creating a global database that cannot be altered once it is recorded, blockchain technology can be used to track weapons from their manufacturer to their sale. The database would essentially record every transaction and purchase.

As we look forward to the new year, other areas that show great promise for blockchain technology are managing insurance policies, government voting systems, Internet of Things (IoT) networks, smart appliances and contracts, and prescription and healthcare data records. I found a great video that covers 19 industries that will be disrupted by blockchain technology, which you can view here.

With the increasing adoption of blockchain technology, so too is the demand for skilled professionals. At the current rate of adoption, we are already behind in our supply of qualified developers. According to Techcrunch.com, blockchain-related jobs are the second-fastest growing category of jobs, with 14 job openings for every one blockchain developer. What do they do? A blockchain developer specializes in developing and implementing architecture and solutions using blockchain technology. If you are intrigued by blockchain and its applications and want to make a career in this fast-growing sector, now is the time!  If you are looking to change careers, click here to learn blockchain.

In closing, I feel that 2020 will be the year we see the established social media platforms lose significant numbers of subscribers for new, more secure networks. In addition, this year I predict we will see increased adoption of blockchain technology for many, many industries. I’ll touch base next year to see how these predictions held up!  Wishing you a healthy and happy new year ahead.