"Where will social media be in five years?"

Brian Solis recently posted the first of a three-part series on his blog “Syndicating Brian Solis” to answer questions from early registrants to the Pivot Conference coming this fall. Solis' answer to the question, “Where will social media be in five years?” was a “bigger and better” type of response.

“… the main players in social media are going to continue to grow in size, shape and reach. They will also connect the dots between online and mobile and real-world and virtual to the point where they are one and the same.”

And to that he added that “gamification” will lure consumers into “engagements on all fronts.”

His comments echo those made a couple of weeks ago by James Hodgins, director of social media for The Price Group, a local agency, and Lisa Low, associate director of emerging media and digital communications for Texas Tech University. They were guest panelists in our PR and Social Media class. Hodgins unequivocally pronounced that mobile was the wave of the future while  Low said she believes there will be more location-based applications, similar to Foursquare.

I think it will be interesting to see how nonprofits such as the Susan G. Komen for the Cure utilize these tools as part of their strategies. The organization is very active on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, in addition to hosting several different websites for its various brands. Interestingly, it has yet to develop a mobile app for the iPhone or Android, although it did launch a mobile version of its website last fall.

Before getting too caught up in what’s to come let's take a look at what's already here. Many of the nonprofits, Komen for the Cure included, that host awareness walks could do much to enrich the experience using current technology. Through Foursquare and the Facebook app organizers could implement check-in sites at fundraising walks such as the 60-mile Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure, or the AVON Walk for Breast Cancer, which spans 39 miles over two days. Incentives to check-in could include promotional items or special titles awarded.

The future, however, holds some interesting possibilities. What about offering a “virtual race” where walkers could chose the course from their favorite city. Or they could join a friend or relative in a virtual world, where they could complete the event together. This type of technology is already here.

There could be one drawback to these virtual events, especially for an organization such as Komen for the Cure, which enjoys an enormous amount of earned media surrounding the fund-raising walks. Not only do these events raise millions of dollars for the fight against cancer, the media spotlight provides invaluable opportunities to educate the public about cancer risk and prevention that might not translate in a virtual world.