Non-Profits and Social Media

I spent about an hour on the phone yesterday with a group that asked a lot of questions about Social Networking, blogging, Google Apps, and how to get started.  I was happy to hear they did have a website but it needed some updating and a little nudge to get it (and keep it) relevant. 

For non-profits, there’s a gamut of web apps and software available that is open-source (read…”free”) but in many cases “ya gets whats ya pays for”.  That said, there are a lot of tools that are freely available and all it takes to roll them out is a little experimentation.  A short list of pieces I use include WordPress, Blogger, StatCounter, Open Office and a handful of Google Apps.

Naturally, if you have questions, please let us know and we’ll happily help out.  In talking with the group yesterday, I dug up the following article from Allyson Kapin.  Even though it’s now a year old…still offers a good base of ideas and options available.

10 Things Every Nonprofit Should Know About Social Media

by Allyson Kapin

Last week I spoke on a couple of great panels at the Politics Online Conference about technology, social media and how Congress is trying to adapt to the ever-changing world wide web aka the “series of tubes” as former Senator Ted Stevens so hilariously described it. From grassroots advocacy staffers to Hill staffers and PR folks, the same questions arose during each panel session – what are the top social media tools to use to spread an organizations message and how does an organization effectively use online communications tools. All great questions! Let’s get down to my top 10 list of things every nonprofit should know about social media and online communications.

1. Google Analytics:

Google Analytics, a free and powerful website stats software, lets you dig into your website data so you can find out all sorts of useful info such as who your audience is and what keywords they are searching for to find your website. Katie Harbath of DCI who joined me on the panel “Every Question I Was too Embarrassed to Ask about Technology” said that this is one of the best resources of data when you begin to search for people to build your social media community. Agreed!

2. Enewsletters Still Work

Enewsletters are still a valuable form of communications for most organizations. During the panel “What Effect Will the New Administration’s Use of Tech Have on Congress?”, Rob Pierson, Online Communications Director for Congressman Mike Honda and soon to be New Media Director for the House Democratic Caucus, said that sending enewsletters to your online list is the best bang for your buck when you have limited time and resources. Enewsletters can easily generate a lot more clicks than social media outlets such as posting a video to YouTube. Furthermore, according to the latest benchmarks study by Convio, enewsletters are one of the most “cost-effective ways to build relationships with new constituents, increase engagement, and educate supporters about your organization’s mission.”

3. Twitter

Twitter, oh such a trendsetter these days between Oprah, Ashton Kutcher and CNN. The entire world seems to be fixated on Twitter and for good reason. Twitter is a great way to spread your message and brand your campaign, while building a community. As I have mentioned in prior posts, you need to be where your target audiences are. Consider it like an interactive 24-hour news cycle. It’s where people go to gather news, resources and discuss issues. But remember don’t treat it as a one way communication tool to just blast out your latest press releases and action alerts. The Twitter community likes to be engaged.

4. Facebook

As the fifth-most trafficked site in the United States, Facebook is a great social network for nonprofits to build a community and brand their campaigns. Nonprofits can start a Facebook Group, Cause Page to raise a bit of money, or Fan Page to post recent news, videos, photos, events, launch contests, and talk to your members via discussion boards.

5. Build Your Community

At the end of the day raising money, motivating people to take action and social networking is about building up your community – a base of friends. For example, you can search for “friends” that share similar interests to your organization’s mission through Summize.com on Twitter or on Facebook by clicking on your own interests and viewing the list of recommendations who come up in your search. Friend Feed is another option.

6. Engagement is Key

Ask your “members/friends” to share their opinions and have them post their responses online. Respond to their comments so they know someone is reading their posts. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) recently said that “Online tools help me stay connected and get feedback from the people I work for.”

7. Freshen Up Profiles

Update user profiles every couple of days with new stories, interesting facts, new videos, blog entries, photos, etc.

8. Transparency Counts Big Time

If you are tweeting or blogging on behalf of an organization sign your name at the end of the post so your community makes a connection to the different people blogging or tweeting. Don’t pretend you’re somebody else like the Executive Director. People can see right through it and will call you out on it which can be embarrassing. For example, when Joe Trippi is not able to be on Twitter, he asks his staff to tweet timely news on his behalf and sign their own name at the end of the tweet.

9. Make It Interesting

Don’t bore your community with wonky status updates or tweets. You are competing with thousands and thousands of messages. According to Ben Pershing, who writes for the Capitol Briefing blog of the Washington Post, reporters are always looking for good stories and hooks, so your blog should be filled with interesting and compelling news not boring press releases.

10. Integrate Social Media Across Your Communications

Times have changed. Remember when all you needed to do was send out a press release, follow up with your Rolodex of reporters or buy an ad in the New York Times? In today’s communications world, social media should be a part of your overall communications plans and strategies. Don’t ditch your traditional communications tools though – just expand your channels and use all the tools at your disposal. Social media is a good thing (not a chore) and gives you more ammunition to brand your organization, spread your message and cultivate supporters.

The Purpose Driven Corporation – How Charities Can Make a Profit and an Impact

Chris Ryan proposes an interest tact in addressing the ongoing funding pressures inherent in non-profit organizations.  At the heart of what’s being proposed is the historical dependency of non-profit groups on commercial enterprises.  With increased pressure to shore up expenses on both sides of the relationship, one solution is providing non-profits the tools and legislation to create and employ for profit entities that in turn support the non-profit mandate. 

Simply, we couldn’t agree more.  Charities impact every facet of our lives and the current state of affairs dictates that business is unable to sustain itself and the levels of charitable contribution we’ve seen in the past.  For the non-profit to survive…the solution can be quite simple.  That said, “simple” rarely means “easy”.

The following is an article written by Chris Ryan Senior Editor for Newswire.net on March 18, 2010.  The article can be seen HERE.

The single most pressing problem facing every charitable enterprise in the United States is one that is inherently tied to the fundamental nature of non-profits: funding. Regardless of whether the enterprise is a non-religious charity or a church-sponsored structure, the difficulty remains the same. Funding levels are inevitably dependent upon the goodwill and graciousness of sponsors and other donors who underwrite the enterprise’s activities.

Of course, few people would claim that there is a crisis in charitable giving in the United States. After all, though total charitable giving in 2008 and 2009 saw a real decrease in inflation-adjusted dollars, the total amount of money given was still in excess of $300 billion in each year – hardly a number about which to complain. Still, with Federal and State budgets across the nation stretched thin through a combination of overspending and shortfalls in revenue – and with the nation’s economic condition balancing the tightrope between fragile recovery and double-dip recession, many non-profits are bracing themselves for even larger revenue shortfalls in the years ahead.

Unfortunately, any reduction in the revenues received by charities and churches will have an ever-increasing impact on the most vulnerable of society. As government budgets face burgeoning deficits and the very real threat of across-the board freezes or outright cuts in programs that serve the poor and disadvantaged, charities and churches will be needed more than ever to help meet these societal needs. The problem is that demand for these services is peaking at precisely the moment that the financial resources of most charitable enterprises are at their weakest point in decades.

The question that needs to be asked is a simple one:

Given that the demand for charitable services is most keenly felt during times of strong economic distress – such as the current recession, and that it is during such times of distress that these charitable entities often have the fewest resources with which to meet demand, should we not work to find a better way to provide funding to charities and churches to ensure that they have the opportunity to meet the needs of the people they service? In other words, should we not strive to find a means by which charities and churches are allowed to be self-empowering entities?

A Historic Problem

The principle difficulty in empowering charities is primarily derived from the history of such entities within the United States. In fact, the very term “non-profit” is perhaps illustrative of the underlying reason so many charitable enterprises struggle so mightily to make their goals. Derived from the Latin word “profectus”, the word profit literally means “to progress”. In like manner, the word “non-profit” means the opposite –not to progress. Indeed, the history of American charities makes clear that these entities were expected to do precisely that.

The earliest history of organized charitable activity in what would later become the United States occurred with the Puritans who settled in the Northeast. Though devoted to a strong work ethic derived from Biblical directives regarding man’s duty to work diligently, the Puritans nevertheless retained the Calvinist need to compartmentalize profit and charity. Keenly aware of the Bible’s warnings regarding the difficulty rich men would have in obtaining salvation, The Calvinist Puritans quickly developed an answer in the form of Puritan charity as a means to assuage capitalist guilt. This view of charity differed little from the Catholic sentiment that penance for sins should commonly take the form of charitable activity to help the less fortunate, save that the Catholic penance was a ritualized removal of guilt for sin, while charity in early America allowed those early businesspeople to compartmentalize any guilt they felt for gaining riches while those around them suffered from want.

Unfortunately, that distinct separation between the way the Puritans conducted their business and the way they conducted their charities remains with us to this day. Businesses were expected to accomplish their goals through savvy market decisions, an expansive mentality, and keen investment strategies. Charities were expected to accomplish their goals through what was, in essence, organized begging. Four hundred years later, little has changed.

Today’s Charities

The history of charitable entities in the United States has not served to impede the growth of such entities. In fact, there are currently more than 1.4 million recognized charitable enterprises in the country – or more than one charity for every three hundred people. Though some might find that number excessive, the truth is that the scope and reach of most of these enterprises is far more limited than the average citizen might think. Hamstrung by archaic rules that prevent the recruitment of top talent, adequate long-term investment strategies, and direct investment in for-profit enterprises, most non-profit companies are left scrambling for scarce resources to accomplish their mission, while simultaneously scrambling to retain their most talented employees.

The religiously inspired differences in the way for-profit and non-profit enterprises conduct their affairs would, on the surface, seem to have little validity in today’s marketplace. Where Christian society once recognized a divine command to set aside 10% of all earnings in the form of a tithe that was designed to aid churches in their mission to care for the poor and infirm, recent trends demonstrate that actual charitable giving falls far short of that mark. It is obvious that a ten trillion-dollar economy should see charitable giving of at least one trillion dollars each year – a number more than three times the actual amount of U.S. annual charitable giving.

Given the disconnect between the religious underpinnings of charitable contributions and the modern practice of giving, non-profit enterprises have become more reliant than ever upon government grants, corporate endowments, and hastily constructed fundraising efforts. The law’s prohibitions against profits have caused most non-profit entities to look no further than the next quarter in their financial planning. Indeed, most are called to task every twelve months to account for how the previous year’s monetary capacity has been managed.

How much more successful could these organizations be if they were allowed to take a more long-range view toward the capitalization of their mission? How many more people in need could they reach if they were given the freedom to take greater risks and reap greater rewards in their efforts to build capacity? In other words, are there not ways in which society at large would benefit from non-profits being allowed to pursue capital expansion through many of the same means which for-profit enterprises use to increase their profitability?

A Change In Direction

Any solution to non-profit capacity building will not flow from policy makers in Washington D.C., nor is it likely that the individual States will take up the cause any time soon. What is needed is a fundamental shift in the paradigm that there must always be an inseparable wall between business and charity. Though that wall once served a religious compartmentalization purpose four centuries ago – business is what you do to make money, while charity is what you give as penance for making money – the need for it no longer exists. Unfortunately, the illusion that non-profit poverty somehow equates to purity and greater ethics still persists in our culture, and more importantly, in our law.

One of the most obvious solutions would be to permit non-profits to more directly invest in the profitability of for-profit ventures. The limitations with respect to non-profit investment in capital ventures are at present so restrictive as to almost preclude this possibility. Yet it remains one of the most viable means by which non-profits could make sound investments in the marketplace, thereby building greater capacity to accomplish their mission and serve their constituents.

One obstruction to such investment can be found in the aversion to risk that many non-profits share. With limited funding – and outside skeptics who oppose any use of charitable funds for investment purposes – most charitable boards are understandably reluctant to take even the mildest of risks in the pursuit of capacity. Because non-profits have to acknowledge donor concerns about how money is allocated, the majority of charities suffer from chronic shortages of funding.

To change the status quo and enable non-profits to seek greater capacity through sound investments, one solution involves finding a way for these charitable institutions to bypass the concerns of their donors, and directly invest in the future profitability of various for-profit enterprises – unencumbered by the need to immediately spend every donor dollar they receive to avoid any appearance of impropriety. Of course, the question immediately arises: is such a strategy even possible?

Fortunately, it is. As restrictive as the laws are with respect to how non-profits may and may not invest in other firms, those restrictions provide opportunities as well. In fact, they provide the very means by which non-profits can directly benefit from the profitability of private companies undergoing public offerings – with relatively small risk to the charity or its donors.

The Solution

The accomplishment of these goals involves a straightforward strategy of allowing a non profit the ability of incubating a for profit enterprise. In return the for profit entity aligns itself with a charity (purpose drive corporation) by donating stock to the non profit which in turn utilizes its stakeholders base and tax bracket as an underwiritn vehicle for the corporation at hand.

The tas deduction of the non profit status acts as a mitigation tool of risk of the stakeholders while the charity becomes the ultimate beneficiary of gain and growth of the enterprise it incubates.

This solution takes advantage of an alignment of interests from the various parties involved. For the corporation itself, the process enables the raising of capital necessary to take the company public; for the non-profit, it provides a means for investment that does not involve funds that are otherwise needed for the missions operations of the charity; for the donors and investors involved, it allows them to promote and support their chosen charitable endeavor while retaining the opportunity to profit from their investment.

Today we need more than ever the alignment of our greatest financial minds in creating the next generation of financial instruments. Not for the purpose of using computer programs to arbitrage profit potential, but rather to create the new instruments which will once again create value for our country.

Organizational Excellence – Tom Peters

A couple terrific presentations from Tom Peters the author of “In Search of Excellence”. 

A few minutes to thumbnail your non-profit organization against, arguable, one of the brightest business minds.

 

The Forecast for Today’s Non-Profit

Most of what follows has been gleaned from the Alliance for Children and Families.  Granted some of the data reaches back…but the message and the trend are relevant.

As businesses attempt to rebuild, restructure and measure every investment through, arguably, one of the worst economic periods, it’s time to measure what your organization is doing to proactively match what your historical donors and partners may be willing to provide…given the new circumstances.  The call from a few years ago to grow your nonprofit has changed to survive and collaborate with one another. Some have already suggested that there are too many nonprofits doing the same thing.

This means that today’s non-profit exploits every available resource to ensure:

• Sponsors and Donors are treated as partners who receive a fair (or more than fair) return for their investment
• Volunteers are treated like star employees
• Marketing, Promotion and Branding is in line with the mission of the organization and consistent across all mediums
• A web strategy that is interactive and encourages a sense of community
• Social networking is a mandatory requirement in the non-profits strategy
• Partnerships among other non-profits are structured to meet everyone’s collective goals and ideals
• Your organization has a shot at lasting through time.

Perhaps, one of the most important points made below is the notion that the lines separating “for-profit” and “non-profit” organizations will continue to blur.  This is largely due to the proliferation of easily accessible content, a myriad of devices to access that content and the amazing amount of competition for the end users attention.  In every sense, the successful non-profit will also be a successful media company.

100,000 will fail.

More than 100,000 nonprofit groups nationwide will fail within the next two years, including a few “big brand-name nonprofits,” a scholar of philanthropy and government told charity leaders assembled here to discuss the fallout from the nation’s financial meltdown. Paul C. Light, a professor of public service at New York University, said that grant makers and others should focus resources on strong organizations and pull the plug on those that are likely to fail…. Collaboration is the key to strengthening charities and keeping struggling nonprofit groups afloat, said New York Secretary of State Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez…. “Organizations do not fail because of the service they offer,” she said. “They fail because they don’t have administrative capacities.” Sharing back-office functions, she said, could take the burden off small and mid-sized charities, allowing them to focus their energy on serving the needy.  NOVEMBER 27, 2008, 100,000 Nonprofit Groups Could Collapse in Next Two Years, Expert Predicts, by Paula Wasley, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, http://www.philanthropy.com.

The number of charities seeking a rapid expansion in operations – what supporters describe as taking high-achieving charities “to scale” – may herald the beginning of a new era in which relatively young charities turn into household names, much like a century ago, when organizations like the American Red Cross, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and the NAACP began and started spreading across the nation. Many charities now are seeking $10-million or more just to cover their growth costs, and more and more donors and foundations are happy to provide the money.  SEPTEMBER 6, 2007, Way to Grow: Charities use Business Practices to Rapidly Expand their Programs, by Ben Gose, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, http://www.philanthropy.com

What he [Robert Egger, author of Begging for Change] found over the years were that there were too many nonprofits, sometimes duplicating each other’s services and fighting one another for funding and supplies. Some nonprofits that started with fire and zeal settled into hidebound bureaucracies. Some nonprofit CEOs settled into well-paid complacency. This continues on because “there are no market forces or governing bodies to oversee, organize or streamline the operations of nonprofits.”  FEBRUARY 10, 2008, Generous to a Fault? Nonprofits Must Align Efforts, by Tom Condon, The Hartford Courant, http://www.courant.com/ [posted 1/22/2009]

The Proliferation of charities may undergo a reversal due to the tough financial environment.

While expressing concern for vital charitable programs that may be in jeopardy, Ken Berger, chief executive of Charity Navigator, a watchdog group, says a consolidation of nonprofit projects would be a good step in many states. With almost one million American charities, he says, organizations that offer duplicate services should merge. “There are too many charities,” he says. “All too often, self-preservation trumps mission.” Instead of waiting for the generosity of donors to run dry, he urges charities to consider joining forces now or at least share administrative staff. “There really is a value in partnering right now,” he says.  OCTOBER 14, 2008, After the Fall, by Ben Gose, et al. The Chronicle of Philanthropy, http://philanthropy.com. [posted 10/24/2008]

As the line blurs between what types of work should fall into the realm of nonprofits and for-profits, there will be more competition for funding between the two.

If such trends persist, in a few decades we’ll find that most people will produce services and products that could be produced as easily in the nonprofit sector as in the profit-making one. In this new system, charities, government, and charitable watchdog groups inevitably will see opportunities and tensions proliferate. And as service and innovation incubate together, the never-bright line between what is charitable and what isn’t — determined in part by “charitable purpose” so health care and research qualify but manufacturing and entertainment don’t — will blur even further. Meanwhile, competition will increase. Profit-making institutions will continue entering fields once left to nonprofits as rising fees and government payments make these forays more lucrative. The reverse is also true. Even if charitable contributions continue to stay fairly constant as a percentage of national income, charities will attract private and government fees in diverse arenas. As businesses and charities increasingly cooperate and compete to meet both public and private demand, we will spend more of our time providing and receiving services once defined as primarily charitable. Whether all these changes beget greater generosity is an open question.  OCTOBER 8, 2007, Blurring the Line Between Charities and Businesses, by C. Eugene Steuerle, The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com. [posted 3/3/2008]

3 WINS Consulting provides a resource to non-profits looking to improve and face the challenges of a rapidly changing environment.  To begin, a brief email introducing yourself and your organization is all we need to begin.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Non-Profit Boards – Who Does What?

A few months back, I was asked to speak at a Crime Stoppers USA conference and Jean Block was on the same docket; I was lucky enough to sit in on Jean’s presentation.  If you’re familiar with Seth Godin, Peter Drucker and the like…you’ll find some of Jean’s messages very familiar.  The difference…is that the message of finding a unique position, of being remarkable and defining partnerships and sponsors along lines of mutual benefit…is directed, for the most part, to non-profits.   She preaches governance, responsibility and accountablity.  There’s a “less-than-subtle” suggestion that a non-profit has a requirement to act like a business and that the majority of charities reliant on traditional funding streams are exposed without a sustainable, self-directed revenue strategy. 

What follows is taken from Jean Block’s December Newsletter and offers a snapshot of roles and responsibilities inherent in any organization…but with specific relevance to non-profits.

The Primary Role of the Board is all about governance:

• The Board is ultimately responsible for setting the organization’s strategic direction.

The Board holds annual strategic planning meetings and guards against interfering with day-to-day operations of the organization.

•  The Board is ultimately responsible for effective and efficient governance of the organization.

The Board ensures its members are trained in governance and fiduciary responsibilities.

The Board ensures that the organization is fiscally transparent and that no conflicts of interest exist.

The Board follows its own Bylaws.

•  The Board is ultimately responsible for ensuring the organization operates to serve its mission and purpose.

 The Board ensures that decisions are mission-driven and prevents mission-drift.

•  The Board supports the agency by making annual financial contribution and actively engages in fundraising.

 The Board sets the example of support for its stakeholders…giving time is not enough!

The Primary Role of the Key Executive is to implement the strategies of the Board and to carry out the day-to-day operations of the organization.

• The Key Executive is not a member of the Board, but actively advises the Board and helps the Board understand the management implications of its decisions.
• Reports regular progress about the strategic plan to the Board.
• Takes full responsibility for ensuring that adequate fiscal controls are in place.
• Ensures that appropriate operational policies and procedures are in place and followed.
• Ensures that appropriate human resource policies are in place and followed and that appropriate staff are in place to carry out the mission and purpose.

Here are 10 things every organization should have in place to help the Board govern effectively:

1. Director and Officer liability insurance.
2. New Board member orientation.
3. Board member Job Description.
4. Conflict of Interest statement.
5. Annual Commitment Letter.
6. Review and discussion of the new IRS Form 990 disclosures.
7. Membership in Board Source (www.boardsource.org).
8. Current bylaws.
9. Strategic plan with annual action plans for all committees.
10. Open and effective communication between Board and Key Executive.

During the CSUSA conference, Jean handed out some great buttons…and I’m happy to see they’re available on the site.

Jean Block’s website can be found HERE and the extensive list of organizations benefitting from Jean’s involvement is found HERE.  To join her mailing list and view archived materials, click HERE.

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Seth Godin on Non-Profits

Follow the link to an interview with Seth Godin where he makes several rather poignant, and relevant, observations about the state of the non-profits.  It’s about 40 minutes long…grab a coffee…and some note paper.

The interview can be found here: Seth Godin on Non-Profits

Seth talks about changing the game –turning the traditional, boring “fundraising funnel” around and making it a dynamic, focused (permitted) and loud “cause megaphone”.  At first glance, this seems a little awkward, but there’s tremendous benefit in looking after your partners and sponsors interests before (or coincidentally to) your own. 

• Tell them you want to “make their story part of your cause” not vice versa
• Ask them how/when and how often they want to be contacted
• Ask them for something remarkable to include in your communication
• Ask them what they think, really think about your cause and publish your findings.  A blog is a tremendous place to share opinion…and gather responses

It’s okay to ask for help, it’s okay to change things up and it’s okay to say out loud that, perhaps, what your organization has been successful with for so many years…isn’t working anymore. 

Web Trends for 2010

The following article is from CNN.  As a group that works with non-profits, we take a hard look at where we are now…before attaching ourselves to a growing trend.  If, for example, we have a group that has recently launched its first web site and we’re working on reaching out with Twitter and Facebook….there will be some time spent bringing everyone up to speed on what “real-time” can actually mean for a non-profit.  Does the individual group develop an iPhone/Blackberry app…or attach to someone else’s?  At some point, the distribution systems available on a cell phone will blur (right now we can send a message via SMS, email, and through a browser app).

For the non-profit, the fact that 80% of different populations are carrying a mult-media device, your participation isn’t just a good idea…it’s required.  As more and more people begin to value making payments with a mobile app…we need to be sure your cause/offer is present…and, ideally, preferred. 

10 Web trends to watch in 2010 

While Web innovation is unpredictable, some clear trends are becoming apparent. Expect the following 10 themes to define the Web next year:

Real-time ramps up

Sparked by Twitter, Facebook and FriendFeed, the real-time trend has been to the latter part of 2009 what “Web 2.0″ was to 2007. The term represents the growing demand for immediacy in our interactions. Immediacy is compelling, engaging, highly addictive … it’s a sense of living in the now.

But real-time is more than just a horde of new Twitter-like services hitting the Web in 2010 (although that’s inevitable — cargo cults abound). It’s a combination of factors, from the always-connected nature of modern smartphones to the instant gratification provided by a Google search.

Why wait until you get home to post a restaurant review, asks consumer trends tracker Trendwatching, when scores of iPhone apps let you post feedback as soon as you finish dessert? Why wonder about the name of that song, when humming into your phone handset will garner an instant answer from Midomi?

Look out, too, for real-time collaboration: Google Wave launched earlier this year, resulting in both excitement and confusion. A crossover between instant messaging, e-mail and a wiki, Wave is a platform for getting things done together. Web users, however, remain baffled. In 2010, Wave’s utility will become more apparent.

Location, location, location

Fueled by the ubiquity of GPS in modern smartphones, location-sharing services like Foursquare, Gowalla, Brightkite and Google Latitude are suddenly in vogue.

As I ruminated in this column two weeks ago, Foursquare and its ilk may become the breakout services of the year … provided they’re not crushed by the addition of location-based features to Twitter and Facebook.

What’s clear is that location is not about any singular service; rather, it’s a new layer of the Web. Soon, our whereabouts may optionally be appended to every Tweet, blog comment, photo or video we post.

Augmented reality

It’s yet to become part of the consumer consciousness, but augmented reality has attracted early-adopter buzz in the latter part of 2009.

Enabled by GPS, mapping data from the likes of Google and the accelerometer technology in modern phones, AR involves overlaying data on your environment; imagine walking around a city and seeing it come to life with reviews of the restaurants you walk past and Wikipedia entries about the sights you see.

When using Layar, for instance, the picture from your phone’s video camera is overlaid with bubbles of information from Yelp, Wikipedia, Google Search and Twitter. The challenge for such services is to prove their utility: They have the “cool factor,” but can they be truly useful?

Content ‘curation’

The Web’s biggest challenge of recent years is that content creation is outpacing our ability to consume it: “Information overload” has become an increasingly common complaint.

In the attention economy, with its millions of daily status updates and billions of Web pages vying for our time, how do we best allocate that scarce resource? One solution has been algorithmic: Sites like Google News source the best stuff by technical means, but fall short when it comes to personalization.

In 2008, the answer revealed itself: Your friends are your filter. With the launch of its Facebook Connect program, Facebook allowed sites to offer content personalization based on the preferences of your network.

Meanwhile, Google’s Social Search experiment is investigating whether Web searching is improved by using information gleaned from your friends on Twitter, Facebook, Digg and the rest. Increasingly, your friends are becoming the curators of your consumption, from Web links to movies, books and TV shows.

Professional “curation” has its place, too: Who better to direct our scarce attention than experts in their fields? I explored this possibility in a CNN article last month titled “Twitter lists and real-time journalism” .

Mobile payments

I’d wager that 2010 will be the breakthrough year of the much-anticipated mobile payments market. While much of Asia has embraced the technology, the U.S., in particular, has lagged. There’s reason for optimism in 2010, however: From PayPalX to Amazon’s mobile payments platform for developers, the big players are seizing the mobile payments opportunity.

Meanwhile, newcomer Square, founded by the creator of Twitter, began its rollout this week to much early-adopter excitement: The company enables merchants to accept payments via Apple’s iPhone.

Cloud computing

Cloud computing was very much a buzzword of 2009, but there’s no doubt this transition will continue. The trend, in which data and applications cease to reside on our desktops and instead exist on servers elsewhere (“the cloud”), makes our data accessible from anywhere and enables collaboration with distributed teams.

The cloud movement will see a major leap forward in the first half of 2010 with the launch of “Office Web Apps,” free online versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote released in tandem with Microsoft Office 2010.

Next year will also see the launch of Google’s Chrome OS, a free, Web-centric operating system that forces us to ask: How many desktop applications do we really need?

Internet TV and movies

Is 2010 the year the majority of our television starts coming to us via the Internet? There’s certainly more activity here than at any other time: Among the early-adopter set, Hulu, Boxee, Apple TV and Netflix’s Roku box lead the field.

Hulu in particular has sustained remarkable growth this year, while the movie studios are getting on board with the launch of Epix, a Hulu for films.

Convergence conundrum

The outlook for devices in 2010 appears somewhat contradictory: While the convergence trend continues apace and many of our gadgets are folded into the smartphones we carry around every day, we’re seeing a converse trend in which task-specific devices gain popularity.

GPS device maker TomTom recently introduced a $100 iPhone app that removes the need to buy a TomTom hardware device. Google then one-upped the company by releasing free turn-by-turn directions on devices running its Android operating system. Garmin and TomTom beware: Standalone GPS devices may meet their demise in 2010.

Also on the endangered gadgets list: Flip video cameras, which PC World declared dead upon the launch of the iPhone 3G S. Meanwhile, Apple executives say the iPhone is cannibalizing the iPod: Why carry two devices when you only need one?

Paradoxically, the e-book reader is seeing traction as a single-use device. With hard-to-read, power-hungry laptop screens proving impractical for reading, and smartphone screens proving too small, the Kindle and its competitors are gaining buzz.

However, I’d argue that the e-book reader is a fad: Carrying an extra device is never desirable, and the major factor preventing convergence is the lack of superior screen technology. Flexible, expanding low-power screens on cell phones might tip the balance.

The real power of Amazon’s Kindle is its ease of use: a virtual bookstore so simple that it does for books what Apple’s iTunes did for music. The devices will converge, but the “app store” model for books will persist across all devices. The technology won’t be with us in 2010, however.

Social gaming

There’s little risk of social gaming proving a bad bet in 2010 — Zynga’s FarmVille game on Facebook now counts more active users than Twitter, claims a Facebook executive. Meanwhile, rival Playfish was recently acquired by Electronic Arts in a deal valued at up to $400 million.

Of growing interest in 2010, however, will be the virtual currencies these games have spawned: In the allegedly unmonetizable world of social media, virtual buying and selling may be the route to riches for some social media sites — a concept I outlined in this column under the title “Is Facebook the future of micropayments?“

Fame abundance, privacy scarcity

Warhol was right: Fame is now abundant. Social media has birthed a galaxy of stars in thousands of niches: We’re all reality stars now, on Facebook, Twitter and all the myriad online outlets where we hone our personal brands.

We’re seeing the ongoing voluntary erosion of privacy through public sharing on Facebook and Twitter, the rise of location-based services and the inclusion of video cameras in a growing array of devices.

The incredible efficiency of Web-based communication and our Google-fueled appetite to know everything about everything (or everyone) right now are combining to make Tiger Woods the canary in the privacy coal mine. Expect personal privacy — or rather its continued erosion — to be a hot media topic of 2010.