Social networking and social media has, and continues to grow at an alarming rate. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are the big players at the current time, but what will be the next big hit?
One thing is for sure, there will be more social networking sites and this presents an interesting challenge for web designers and web developers. It is developers who will be tasked with bringing us all closer together on the web through social applications, and as Facebook has shown with its own custom applications the possibilities are almost endless.
Integration to personal sites and blogs as well as the mobile web and smart phone use the online social network is growing and crucially - becoming more demanding. Sharing pictures and status updates is getting ‘old’ and everyone is looking for the next big thing. Sharing music playlists, favourite video clips and passing ‘virtual gifts’ are growing - each new innovation bringing its own unique set of technical challenges.
Developers have always had to contend with keeping their skills up to date and current and the web is now seen almost as a new programming platform in its own right. Web and mobile applications are commonplace and expectations are high, the marketplace is competitive and to stand out new applications need to be unique and offer something new. Calling web developers everywhere, the challenge is on!