We received an impressive 200 entries for our 2009 Internet Trend Contest! Following are the top 10 submissions, listed in random order, which were selected based on vision, originality and overall description. Thanks to everyone who shared their ideas and insights with us!

We asked, "What Internet trend do you think will most significantly affect marketing and creative professionals in the coming year, and why? Please describe the trend, including the challenges and opportunities it creates for those in the creative profession."

1. The Advance of Viral Marketing
   "Viral marketing will become more important than traditional marketing in the coming year. People who have accepted the Web as a platform and media outlet are becoming consumers of products and services once only learned about through traditional media. Old media professionals must shift their thought processes and change gears, catering to a more distracted and eager audience. This goes beyond the typical 'YouTube generation' to one that is savvier and Internet educated. The 'Twitter generation' has grown accustomed to 140-character sound bites, and marketing professionals need to adjust their messaging to this consumption. Many organizations have embraced this marketing by empowering their people to be more open and transparent with their products and services. Marketing and creative professionals will need to encourage their clients to embrace this openness or be forced to listen to the grumblings of their consumers in the same ways they had once shunned."–Brian Gorbett, Chicago, Ill.
2. More Sophisticated Virtual Collaboration
   "Websites with fully integrated two-way video and collaboration/conferencing will become required for marketing and creative professionals. Creative challenges include seamless integration of graphic elements necessary to transform the feature beyond functionality to become something visually appealing that entices users to participate. Video conferencing is quickly becoming the norm, so entertaining, site-specific devices will need to be developed. These could include client-centric characters that appear to be sitting beside users or 'pop–up' thought bubbles that appear over a user's head when key words are used during a video conference."–Peak Creative Media, Denver, Colo.
3. The Rise of 'Social Cocooning'
   "I believe traditional social networking has recently 'jumped the shark,' and trend-setting users will soon begin 'social cocooning' – in other words, creating personal portal pages that both display and selectively broadcast information, and can be easily maintained from a single location. The time required to actively manage various accounts on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, personal blogs, etc., is becoming burdensome. Savvy users are going to start looking for ways to roll back their maintenance time. Getting these end users to voluntarily place clients' messages, tools, games, etc., on these social cocoon sites will be a tremendous creative challenge."–Marti Gold, Allen, Texas
4. A Greater 'Connection' Between Your Phone and the Internet
   "The combined use of 2D barcoding, cell phones and the Internet will be the next big trend. This trend has already taken off in Asia as it allows companies to better utilize their ad space. Instead of having to take out a full-page ad, companies can invest in smaller 2D barcodes, which link to their sites for a much broader user experience. For example, a consumer can 'scan' a barcode using their camera phone and be instantly taken to a website about a given product. This technology can be used to promote more of a product, generate an instant coupon or get more information about a product. A whole new way of marketing to consumers and satisfying their need for instant gratification will open up once a standard for 2D barcodes and the various hardware options to read the codes is established. As this trend opens to the masses, more users will be hitting websites, thus pushing the bounds of designers' creative limits to be better and more innovative than the next marketer."–Darryl J. East, Akron, Ohio
5. Mobile Social Networking Allows Instant Communication and Results
   "Mobile social networking – social networking that is designed for communities to solve problems, support and inform – that is flexible to interact with on mobile platforms and serve immediate needs. For example, a social net built around things to do (e.g., I'm out on a date, the movie is sold out, what should I do?). Or, a bar in the area is having a slow night, and sends out an update with a 2-for-1 drink deal to anyone who comes in during the next hour and shows the update on their mobile device. This serves the user and the advertiser in very immediate terms. This idea can apply to other communities, such as B2B. For example, a company in need of small boxes because their shipment didn't arrive on time could send out a 'status update.' Other companies could reply and get them what they need immediately. This will influence a big change in the type of communication many marketers are used to. Future jobs will be of those sending out meaningful, short blurs instead of copy-rich, labored messages that take weeks to get approved. Eventually, it will require strategists versed on how to effectively broadcast short blurbs and the interaction between business and consumer becoming tighter and more direct. Response times will greatly reduce and immediacy will be the norm. Marketing messages will take minutes to launch instead of days, and the challenge will be to keep up with the accelerated time frames and limited message length while still being effective."–Barbie Shipley, Knoxville, Tenn.
6. Twitter Explodes in Popularity
   "It, hands down, will be Twitter. Twitter has already seen a huge boom in 2008, but in 2009, it will be the year it explodes. How will it significantly affect marketing and creative professionals in 2009? It's simpler and easier than Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, or any other social network. Creatives will integrate their Twitter streams into their personal portfolio sites and blogs, and pay more attention to Twitter followers than RSS readers. Creatives can establish themselves as leaders amongst their peers by posting informative tweets about their profession and linking to quality content that their potential clients or peers can benefit from. A simple search for 'need a logo' on Twitter results in a bunch of real people that need a logo designed - and you are literally 140 characters away from establishing a new lead. The concept of retweeting other people's tweets is phenomenal. Viral marketing has never been so easy. With new Twitter web apps popping up every day such as TweetMeme, a button that allows you to show off how many times your site has been linked to on Twitter, it's becoming more apparent that Twitter will be the wave that all smart creatives will ride if they plan to get ahead in their field."–Jeff Finley, Cleveland, Ohio
7. Mobile Media Leads to a More Dynamic Web
   "As mobile usability improves, so will mobile Internet use. With technologies such as iPhone and smartphones, users will become more engaged and interactive online. Brands and advertisers will think of new ways to use phone applications and websites to create seamless, integrated campaigns. Traditional banner ads will no longer be effective, and will be replaced with targeted, integrated creative ads that will deliver great ROI. These ads will be part of the content watched or requested by the user rather than as an external extension of it. As Internet connections become stronger, websites also will become more visually appealing, using great motion graphics and 3D technology. This will add more pressure for marketing and creative professionals to come up with campaigns that are original, appealing and get the message across quickly. Social marketing will extend and spread across many platforms (mobile, computers, consoles, etc.), and those who tried to avoid them in the past will join networks such as Facebook, Twitter and photo-sharing sites, which are already gaining popularity. Since there is a lot of content online, marketing professionals will gain great exposure once they create something that stands out."–Noora Abu Eitah, Toronto, Ontario
8. Candid Dialogue Helps Build Better Brands
   "Marketing is rapidly becoming a public dialogue between companies and individuals. Marketing and creative professionals must begin to ask consumers to engage in candid dialogue with companies and products in which they have an interest. For too long, companies have felt the need to posture or position; the voice they share with the public is filtered, cleaned up and often devoid of personality. Dialogue between a company and an individual must be direct, honest and candid. So, who becomes the conversant on the client side? In the 'better of all worlds,' any employee of the company would be completely imbued with the values of the company and be able to express the essence of the company in a clear voice. In the 'best of all worlds,' every employee would be a conversant. In that 'best of all worlds,' the challenge becomes one of helping companies truly know their brands and communicating those brands internally. The end goal becomes one of giving voice to employees and helping companies coach their staff on the use of social media. Clearly, we're not there yet. But the day rapidly approaches that this sort of ongoing conversation between companies (more accurately, the employees that are companies) and individuals is the primary means of communicating the most effective marketing messages."–Daniel Monroe, Birmingham, Ala.
9. Social Media, Websites and Television Converge
   "To date, social media properties have run independently of commonly visited websites, such as CNN.com. People would visit Facebook to share updates with their friends, and then click over to CNN.com to get news information. Meanwhile, their television would be playing on the other side of the room. 2009 will be known as the year of convergence as the traditional lines separating social media, television and websites blur to the point of being homogenized into one consistent experience. The primary challenges thus far have been both human and technical. It's human because traditional media properties don't necessarily see the integration with new media as an opportunity, especially when an associated money-making model isn't clearly in place. It's technical because various new media owners have to integrate their technology to external, third-party systems. Getting things to handshake back and forth sounds easy, but it is a considerable hurdle to clear. The challenge to those in the creative profession is to shift their thinking from creating 'things' to setting up an 'experience.' The possibilities for integrated media are exponential. Combining the power of social media, TV and websites results in unprecedented opportunities for commercial and social organizations alike. One ironic aspect that makes this technology integration so special is the human element. Imagine watching a TV event and corresponding via text messages with fellow viewers (or your list of Facebook friends). Not everyone watches sporting events or American Idol in a huge room of friends and family; some are alone and want nothing more than to share the experience with someone else who cares. This convergence facilitates the ability to share with other people, whether they're in the house next door or half-way around the world. Throw in access to mobile devices, and you're no longer tethered to a TV or computer monitor. You could be watching an iPhone while being stuck on a train, all the while chatting with distant relatives and friends. It's a very powerful experience that marketers need to recognize and support while we're still in the nascent phase of technology implementation. While the trend has manifested itself, it still hasn't crested. Savvy creative professionals will not only see this wave rolling in from the distance, but they will also position themselves for one hell of a ride."–Gary Moneysmith, Columbus, Ohio. As the winner of the Internet Trend Contest, an abbreviated version of this entry is featured in our 2009 Internet Trends Forecast white paper.
10. Social Media Drives Productivity
    "Over the next year, the maturing of social networks is the trend that will most affect creative and marketing industries. Social sites, like Twitter, will move from an obsession of the Gen Y crowd, to an actual sales and business development tool. Large corporations are already experimenting with how to utilize these networks to grow their business, as a productivity enhancer and also as a method to keep customers up to date with the latest product and service offerings. As creative companies move from large, vertically structured, employee-based setups to flat, contractor-based models, where many people work remotely, staying connected through social sites is how productivity will be monitored and maintained. Tools such as Skype, AIM, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, allow nearly instantaneous access to other people and information about what they are doing. So now, even e_mail is too slow for businesses to operate smoothly. Economic shifts that are forcing people to become more efficient while using fewer resources also will speed up the pervasiveness with which these social networking tools are incorporated into daily use."–Brent Swanson, Minneapolis, Minn.