Forecast for 2011: Documentally on the year social media geeks will become the norm

There are few people more immersed in social media than Christian Payne, who spent 2010 wrapped up in a feast of experimental projects that included
hitching across the country using only social media tools.

Photo by Documentally on Flickr. All rights reserved

What will 2010 be remembered for? What did we learn?
"2010 saw massive adoption of social media channels. Not all the right ones in my mind but nevertheless people were saturating themselves with the social web and it felt almost normal to be a geek.

"We learnt that changing your avatar green just stopped your friends recognising you. Politicians are as engaging online as they need to, because the more effective the internet gets at what it does, the more of a threat 'the powers that be' think it is. Some people are beginning to realise the power of information and now we can share it better than ever before, 'they' feel this currency needs to be regulated."

What was your best and worst moment?
"I appear to have managed to squeeze all kinds of projects in this year. Being a life blogger helps you punctuate time. Episodes aren't lived and forgotten - they are recorded and remembered.

"My Grandmother being diagnosed with dementia is certainly a low.

"The highs are many. Watching my son (@Minimentally) grow. Hitching a ride in a light aircraft in Africa and having 3G all the way! Working with the British Council in Pakistan. My completion of a rapid adventure from Lands End to John O'Groats using social media.

"And the year to come? I hope we will stop talking about social media and relax as these tools become as invisible part of a new way of doing things. I'm hoping marketing speak becomes outlawed as we realise no special language is needed to measure the world of relationships - although I'm pretty sure how we 'feel' about a company or organisation will be monitored and assigned 'ROI' units or some such device to keep the bean counters happy. The other values I hope will start becoming more obvious as mass adoption takes hold. And as it does, the language has to be simplified and inclusive. Terminology that divides the community creates this elitist tier, this echo chamber we try so hard to break out of.

"The tech conference will also evolve. It has too."

What's your hot tip for 2011?
"I have just installed my router to the TV. Programs are streamed and films are 'on demand'. News and comics are delivered to my iPad, Audioboos to my iPhone and at least two iTunes store cards came to me for Christmas.  Yet I am so missing the physical objects connected to these different flavours of media that I specifically asked Santa for a record player.

"I managed to intercept the postman to get it early and although the retro looking black box will allow me to insert an MP3-laden memory card, I have left that feature untouched as I explore boxes of my old records. Each record box taking up potential hard drive space worth terabytes. And I sit wistfully nodding my head to scratchy tracks and enjoying the artwork on what feel like oversized sleeves.

"I miss the physical objects even though we don't really need them. It's the nostalgia, the emotion and the memories we tie to these objects. As our web communications become more personal our purchases become less physical. Maybe this will change as we begin to be able to look back on the data we are creating and nostalgia is nurtured. Perhaps a smarter approach to location based apps will help more users bridge the gap between our online worlds and what many still refer to as 'real life'.

"And what am I secretly looking forward to? The rise of the unmoderated, uncontrolled and unstoppable 'dark net' - the net that takes over when the original internet gets turned off for being a weapon of mass information dissemination. There will be more activists as the noose is tightened around our digital vocal chords. After all, as the old school media has announced, we are entering the age of the first info war."