The Many Trends of 2011

Every year I used to write an article about the upcoming trends an article that I know many are looking forwards to. But, this year there is a problem; Everyone seems to have been publishing 2011 trend articles.

Just to name one, you have "100 Things to Watch in 2011."

While many of these articles are very interesting, they all lack one fundamental element - focus!

"100 predictions" are useless, because it says that everything might happen. It doesn't provide you with any value. You need to know what trends that are the really important ones. If you want be successful in 2011, what should you focus on?

So this year I have decided not to write a trend article. It would just add to the confusion. Instead, over the next 4 weeks, I'm going write a number of articles about the macro-trends. The trends that create all these other trends.

These macro trends are:

• The two trends that create every other trend - and how to spot a fad.
• How social media has just started, and how social culture is next.
• The shift from distribution to consumption.
• The source, channel, and the new destinations.

We can then talk about the specific trends. One example: The ebook trend isn't about print to digital. It is really about indirect to direct consumption. The format is less important than the path.

While you wait though, here are some of the many predictions out there for 2011 (some of them is quite good):

• 100 Things to Watch in 2011
• Six Social Media Trends for 2011
• Trends to watch in 2011
• 5 Predictions for APIs in 2011
• 10 Social Media And Technology Trend Predictions For 2011
• 4 Predictions for Web Design in 2011
• Our Bets For Digital Media In 2011
• Steven Brill: 2011 will bring ebook battles, paywall successes, and a new model for long-form articles
• Better curation on Twitter, pushback against anonymity, and more new startups: Predictions for 2011
• Smartphone growth, Murdoch's Daily, and journalism for the poor: Predictions for mobile news in 2011
• In-car app stores, success for Xinhua, and more social media: Predictions for journalism in 2011
• 11 trends for mobile apps in 2011
• Jonathan Stray: In 2011, news orgs will finally start to move past the borders of their own content
• Gawker copycats, luxurious print, more robots, and a new blogging golden age: Predictions for 2011
• DDoS attacks on the U.S. media, Twitter history searching, and a big blog deal: More predictions for 2011
• What Lab readers think journalism can expect in 2011
• Seven Technologies That Will Rock 2011
• 10 Digital Trends
• What's In Store for Technology in 2011
• Top Remote Work Trends to Watch for in 2011
• Ben Parr on predictions for Social Networks in 2011
• Tim Ferriss on predictions for Social Media Marketing in 2011
• Jesse Thomas on predictions for Digital Advertising in 2011
• Vadim Lavrusik on predictions for News Media in 2011
• Christina Warren on predictions for Mobile in 2011
• Jenn Van Grove on predictions for Startups in 2011
• Jolie O'Dell on predictions for Web Development in 2011
• Jacob Gube on predictions for Web Design in 2011
• Erica Swallow on predictions for Small Business in 2011
• Leyl Master Black on predictions for Public Relations in 2011
• Geoff Livingston on predictions for Social Good in 2011
• Brenna Ehrlich on predictions for Music in 2011
• Charlie White on predictions for Games in 2011
• Matt Silverman on predictions for Politics in 2011
• Brian David Johnson on predictions for Connected Devices in 2011
• Josh Jones-Dilworth on predictions for Online Data in 2011
• Gabe Zichermann on predictions for Game Mechanics in 2011
• Philip Ruppel on predictions for E-Book Publishing in 2011
• 2011 Predictions: Audrey Watters
• 2011 Predictions: Klint Finley
• 2011 Predictions: Curt Hopkins
• 2011 Predictions: Sarah Perez
• 2011 Predictions: Mike Melanson
• 2011 Predictions: Richard MacManus
• 2011 Trends: Social Media Meets E-mail
• New Social Media Business Trends for 2011
• 30 Social Media Predictions From 30 Social Media Pros