With new social networking platforms appearing from behind every corner, it can be hard to know exactly where to commit your time and resources. And as we move into the latter-half of 2013, it’s important to look ahead to where social networking is going, and how we can get on board.
随着新的社交网络平台不断从各个角落涌现，要想知道你把时间和资源投在哪里最合适，这会很困难。我们已迈入2013年下半年，展望社交网络的未来走向以及我们如何能对这一趋势善加利用是非常重要的。
As I think about the trends in social media so far this year, I’ve compiled a list of my predictions as to where we’re headed as we inch towards 2014.
根据我对今年到目前为止社交媒体发展趋势的思考，我列出了对迈入2014年之际社交网络发展方向的几点预测。
1. Investment in Social Media Will Become a Necessity, Not a Luxury
1. 投资社交媒体将成为必需品，而不是奢侈品
While I’d argue that investing time and resources into a social media strategy is most definitely a necessity in 2013, I believe the tipping point in public sentiment from ‘should have’ to ‘must have’ will occur in 2014.
我要说，在2013年把时间和资源投入到一项社交媒体战略上实属必要，我相信公众情绪从“应该有”变成“必须有”的转折点会出现在2014年。
Businesses are already coming to terms with the need to integrate their social media efforts with their content strategy, and are seeing the impact of social media in terms of lead generation, referral traffic, and revenue.
企业已经开始正视将其社交媒体战略与内容战略结合在一起的必要性，同时在潜在客户信息收集、引荐流量和收入方面看到了社交媒体的影响力。
As businesses see these very real and measurable benefits, I believe we’ll see a move away from assigning social media tasks to existing employees, and see even more companies hiring social media strategists or full-time social media managers.
随着企业看到社交网络带来的这些非常真实且可以衡量的好处，我相信我们会看到企业采取行动，不再将社交媒体工作分派给现有员工完成，而是会有更多公司聘用社交媒体战略规划师或全职社交媒体经理。
The benefits of social media are many, but they include:
社交媒体能为公司带来很多好处，包括：
Improved social signals (which are a factor in the search ranking algorithm).
提升网站的社交信号（这是搜索排名算法中考虑的一个要素）
Company branding
公司品牌宣传
Improved brand awareness
提高品牌认知度
Word-of-mouth advertising
口碑宣传
Increased customer loyalty and trust
提高客户忠诚度和信任度
Improved audience reach and influence
提高受众范围和影响
Social media is also one of the three pillars of SEO.
社交媒体还是搜索引擎优化（SEO）的三大支柱之一。
Google+ Will Become a Major Factor
2. Google+将成为主力
Facebook continues to lead the pack in terms of number of active monthly users ( 1.15 billion at last count), Google+ is quickly gaining steam, and in fact, now has the second highest number of monthly users ( 343 million).
虽然Facebook在月活跃用户数（最近一次统计为11.5亿）方面仍然保持领先，但Google+正快速赶上，实际上，现在其月活跃用户数已升至第二位（3.43亿）。
With Google using the platform to collect personal information (think demographics, location, etc.), Google+ should no longer be thought of as ‘just’ another social network. It’s increasingly proving itself to be an integral part of Google’s grand scheme in terms of SEO, social signals and providing a more personalized search experience. This is especially apparent with the importance of Google Authorship, which I project will be one of the key components to Google’s search ranking algorithm by the end of 2014.
由于谷歌使用该平台收集个人信息（人口特征、位置等），Google+不应再被看作“仅仅是”另一个社交网络，它日益证明自己是谷歌SEO和提升社交信号等宏大计划中不可或缺的组成部分，同时提供更加个性化的搜索体验。从Google Authorship的重要性中这一点体现得犹为明显，我预计，到2014年底，Google Authorship将是谷歌搜索排名算法中的关键要素之一。
I believe that businesses who are finding themselves spread thin with their social media efforts will increasingly turn to Google+ as the closest thing we have to a ‘one size fits all’ social network.
我相信，那些发现自己要做的工作太多，无法兼顾社交媒体的企业会日益转向Google+，这是能让我们建设“放之四海皆准”的社交媒体网络的最方便工具。
As Google+ moves towards even greater integration with other aspects of the web – as they’ve already done with their foray into local search – I think we’ll see its growth skyrocket, both in terms of business and personal use. For information on how to start using Google+, read “ How to Breathe Life into Your Google+ Profile.”
随着Google+与网络的其它方面更为紧密地融合——正如他们涉足本地搜索时所做的那样——我认为我们将见证它在企业和个人应用领域的迅猛发展。
3. Image-Centric Networks Will See Huge Success
3. 以图片为中心的社交网络将大获成功
We’ve seen a consistent trend in 2013 toward sharing through image and video, rather than text-based content. Visual content will increasingly become a critical piece of any solid content strategy, and social networking site Pinterest will continue to shed its reputation as a ‘women’s only’ network and become an integral part of retailers’ marketing strategies.
2013年，我们看到图片和视频分享的趋势热度不减，而不是分享基于文字的内容。图像内容将日益成为行之有效的内容战略的关键部分，社交媒体网站Pinterest将继续摆脱其“纯女性网站”的名声，并在各大零售商的营销战略中占据重要地位。
Other image-based social media sites like Slideshare, Tumblr, Path, and Mobli will continue to grow, and businesses will need to become more mindful about the ‘sharability’ factor of photos on their websites and blogs in order to derive significant benefit from their social media content marketing efforts.
其他基于图片的社交媒体网站，例如Slideshare、Tumblr、Path和Mobli等，都将保持发展势头，企业需要更加重视自己网站及博客中图片的“可分享性”，这样才能让他们的社交媒体内容营销努力取得理想效果。
It seems that writing 140 characters and taking 3 minute long videos is becoming too tedious for many of us. Micro video to the rescue!
看起来敲140个字符和看一段3分钟长的视频对我们中的很多人来说已过于乏味。微视频正好能解决这个问题！
With the emergence of micro video apps like Twitter’s Vine and now Instagram’s video sharing feature, we’re seeing even more movement toward real-time video sharing. And not just any videos; with Instagram allowing 3-15 seconds per video, and Vine allowing precisely 6 seconds, users are even more likely to create and share videos from their smartphones.
随着Twitter Vine以及Instagram的视频分享功能等微视频应用的兴起，我们看到实时视频分享日益流行。不是任何视频都可以。Instagram上允许的每段视频的长度为3-15秒，Vine则是6秒。用户甚至更有可能创建和分享来自其智能手机的视频内容。
It will be interesting to see if and how these bite-sized pieces of content will change the playing field when it comes to video-based social media.
谈到基于视频的社交媒体网站，看看这些小小的视频内容是否以及如何改变行业的面貌将会非常有趣。
5. Foursquare Will Decline Sharply
5. Foursquare的发展将大幅放缓
With stale traffic numbers, and significant difficulties raising capital in 2013, Foursquare continues to struggle its way towards 2014.
Foursquare的网站流量停滞不前，且2013年的融资困难重重，它在进入2014年之际将继续苦苦挣扎。
With other social networks like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter offering location-based features, it seems like only a matter of time before Foursquare folds and their users are absorbed into these other networks.
由于Facebook、Instagram和Twitter等其他几家社交网站也提供基于位置的服务，看起来Foursquare关门及其用户被上述几家社交媒体网站吸收只是时间问题。
6. MySpace, Love it or Hate it, Will Grow
6．不管你是否喜欢它，MySpace将保持增长
With their radical makeover and re-branding efforts earlier this year, MySpace appears to be getting its second wind. Offering an iPhone app that allows users to network, receive private messages, and listen to their own personalized radio station, MySpace seems to be on track for growth in 2014.
MySpace今年初进行了彻底改造并重塑品牌，看起来它正再度振作。MySpace提供的一款iPhone应用可让用户交友、接收私人信息并收听自己的个性化电台节目。2014年，MySpace似乎能保持稳步增长。
I don’t see MySpace ever again competing in the same space as Facebook or Twitter, but it will be interesting to see how the network grows among bands and music-lovers.
我不认为MySpace会再度在相同领域与Facebook或Twitter展开竞争，但见证这家社交网络如何在乐队和音乐爱好者中扩大影响力是件有趣的事。
7. LinkedIn Will Become a Major Player for B2B Business Growth
7. LinkedIn在B2B商务领域的增长速度将保持领先
Still holding steady as the #1 social networking site for professionals with 238 million users, LinkedIn isn’t just sitting on its heels. With the launch of its Influencers program, LinkedIn is positioning itself as not only another networking site, but as one of the largest sources of content creation and curation for professionals.
LinkedIn继续稳坐职业社交网站的头把交椅，拥有2.38亿用户，但它并未不思进取。通过推出热门人物博客平台Influencers，LinkedIn正积极转型，不仅要作为一家社交网络站点，而且要在内容创建和管理方面成为职业人士的最重要信息来源。
As it grows and attracts even more users, the advantages of being “linked in” will become enormous for B2B marketers. For a guide on how to use LinkedIn for Marketing, see my article “The Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn Marketing.”
随着该网站不断发展并吸引了更多用户，“广交人脉”对B2B营销机构来说将是巨大的优势。
Final Thoughts
总结
Facebook and Twitter show no signs of imminent decline, but it will be interesting to see how they innovate to keep up with the growth of Google+ as well as image and video-based networks.
Facebook和Twitter没有表现出增长会立即放缓的迹象，但让人感兴趣的是他们将如何创新以跟上Google+和基于图片及视频的社交网站的发展速度。
With social media behemoth Facebook turning 10 in 2014 (has it really been that long?), they’ll continue to focus efforts on mobile, and on offering advertisers opportunities to better target their ads. And while Twitter continues to be the golden child amongst B2B marketers, I’m curious to see if and how the rise of Google+ will impact its market share.
2014年，社交媒体巨头Facebook将迎来创立10周年纪念（它已经存在了这么长时间吗？），它将继续把精力放在移动领域，并为广告商提供更好的机会，可让他们更有针对性地投放广告。虽然Twitter仍然是B2B营销机构眼中的金童子，我却对Google+的发展是否会影响其市场份额感到好奇。
While most business owners are aware of the necessity of having a social media strategy, I believe 2014 will be the year where a majority will finally understand the necessity to commit the necessary time and resources to their social media efforts. I’m excited to see which up-and-coming networks grab a share of the market, and which have already run their course.
虽然大多数企业主都意识到了制订社交媒体战略的必要性，但我认为要到2014年，他们中的大部分才能最终理解在社交媒体上投入必要的时间和资源是多么重要。我很期待看到有哪些前途光明的社交网络能在市场中不断扩大份额，哪些已走上穷途末路。
|
