The Two Biggest Tech Trends We'll See in 2017

2017 is sure to bring an array of social justice initiatives focusing on accelerating change through technology. Namely, collecting big data that allows for valuable insights and raised awareness for political and social events.

The focus should fall on streamlining communication between minority groups and the causes they support by using technology to organize their efforts in a way that impacts change.

Ironically enough, my latest status on LinkedIn read, “Tech may very well be the last hope in fixing political and racial injustice.” It’s apparent that technology is responsible for many of the social advances of the past decade yet we still speak of it as one entire entity, rather than a vehicle.

Now it’s time to use technology to facilitate tangible contributions in the face of today’s political and social climate, from early-stage ventures to our industry’s leaders. All players must understand that their success is largely a part of their relevance in today’s culture and for that reason, a lack of definite action could hurt major platforms in the long run.

Still, they too have the opportunity to make impactful change among their massive communities in a way that aides these injustices without diminishing the user experience.

At a smaller scale, we’ve seen advances in products like Facebook’s local ballot guides and its Safety Check feature in light of today’s natural and human disasters. On the other hand, rising startups have the chance to create new ways of elevating minority voices and mobilize action for the change in lawful and civil treatment of various races, gender, and demographics.

Strategic tech initiatives are already on the horizon and this is only the beginning. FWD.us is a tech community fighting for immigration reform to open the door for more foreign talent in tech companies and it’s supported by some of Silicon Valley’s elite.

There are also the larger counterparts getting involved financially to support initiatives that fight to conquer social injustices.

Google has given over $5 million in grants towards organizations focused on racial justice; including local San Francisco and Oakland organizations working to eliminate racial bias in the school system or in local communities -- a contribution that is far greater than the steps tech companies have taken to address these issues that arguably fuel their platform. This is especially so when considering factors such as 24% of Twitter’s audience is African American or the fact that Facebook Live captured the horrific death of Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minn.

Imagine the use of virtual reality to allow users to get a POV experience of life in another skin color or gender. Imagine AI paired with live video used to spread awareness of police interactions and potential misconduct. We should also consider EdTech programs that empower minority youth to build skill sets in-line with the many jobs of tomorrow’s technology field. Moving forward, there is no box to think within.

I urge us not to confuse activism with socialization. With the internet, it is completely necessary to raise social awareness, although awareness should be a byproduct of action, not a substitute. In an effort to make true, measurable impact let’s strive to make change, not chatter.

Journalism in the digital era

Given our country’s divide, we need understanding and unbiased insight, and tech is an avenue to create that narrative and transparency for all parties. We can also expect digital storytelling to become the driving effort behind B2B marketing as well as the experiences of consumer-focused platforms in the new year. Written content is still one of the main avenues for most marketing initiatives but with the competition with other forms ﹣video, visual, audio ﹣we will see a huge focus on the experiences of new age journalism.

The editorial experience as a whole is changing. Both brands and Saas companies are finding new ways of driving growth and business through written content but as attention spans shorten and this sector in marketing becomes diluted; companies are transitioning to more engaging journalism on both owned channels as well as select social outlets.

Slack, Starbucks, and even BMW are just a few of the larger companies using Medium both for specific stories, if not their “home” blog. Medium has created a seamless experience for both creators and readers. In 2017, we can expect this concept of publishing platforms made of quality users and media to become more abundant for both written and visual content.

Collectively, we are reading less and learning information through different experiences. With that said, editorial voices and journalism will revamp itself among the formats of today’s social networks.  

Snapchat created a new form of storytelling and today’s biggest brands and publications have adapted to accommodate for this unique native format. Snapchat Discover is the funnel for brands to reach new Millennial and Gen Z audiences via these multimedia channels. Such an experience isn't quite copy and paste either, entire teams now have dedicated efforts towards Discover.

According to a Variety survey, while BuzzFeed was the most popular channel viewed by 54% of users on a regular basis, older media brands are also thriving, including Food Network, Comedy Central, and ESPN among others. ESPN has proven its relevance among the younger generations on digital, reporting 18 million unique viewers per month, and 2.3 million per day, according to John Kosner, ESPN's executive VP for digital and print media.

The new year will consist of an array of uprooting changes, already precedented by the political and social events of late. Upstarts and tech giants will make advances to spread the narrative of the minority groups to better mobilize impactful change in the real world. We’ll also see the narrative around editorial content as the new age of storytelling moves toward a multimedia experience, crafted specifically for respective platform.

This article is part of the LinkedIn Top Voices list, a collection of the must-read writers of the year. Check out more #BigIdeas2017 here.

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• Photos via: Banksy, FWD.us, 510Media, Ryan A. Day

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