For the longest time, people used the Internet in the exact same way. If you were looking for something, you “Googled it,” and if you were seeking entertainment, or to keep in touch with your community, you went to social media. Essentially, the experience of using the Internet was uniform and predictable. Now, that has all changed, and it’s never going back.
The genie is out of the bottle, and the evolution of Web 3.0 has crested into a new era of hyper personalization. Now, the Internet experience for every user is becoming more and more unique, and distinct. This has been happening for 12 to 18 months, but it’s becoming much more pronounced.
We’re seeing that Social continues to grow as a search engine, due to the rich media, reviews and visuals. Over the last 15 to 20 years, social platforms have evolved into massive resource centres providing direct answers to the audience.
On the topic of answers, Search has also shifted from research to instant answers. With the continued emergence of AI platforms, we can anticipate a continued shift in how people Discover, Learn, and Convert.
So what does it all mean?! Well, we’ve taken great care to be proactive in understanding these shifts in user behaviour. What you will find in this year's edition of The Yearbook is a review of these emerging trends, and predictions about the continued changes that lie ahead.
Perhaps these changes sound daunting, but luckily you’ve stumbled into the perfect resource guide! The team here at TIA has worked exceptionally hard to condense all these learnings and findings into our tidy annual trade magazine. We hope you enjoy The Yearbook, just as much as we enjoyed producing it!
Thank you,
Tom
