It is a well-known reality that the popularity of the amusement arcade is in decline. The release of 3D TV, augmented reality, motion sensing and online gaming, to name a few, have taken the in-home gaming experience beyond comprehension,  whilst the current economic climate has left gamers unable to cope with arcades’ rising costs. However, perhaps the innovations in technology and the economic climate are not the only reasons for the demise of these venues; perhaps this could also be saying something about the shift in our culture of gaming? Let us take a step back and consider some of the factors.

A brief history…

Our online social networks are a key source of information and increasingly influence what we read, share and buy. However, if we do not filter out the mundane we risk missing the information that is most important to us and becoming a victim of information overload.

It occurred to me the other day that I have too many friends.  By this, I don’t mean the family, friends and colleagues I socialise with throughout the week and, you know, actually spend my leisure time with face to face. More, the numerous people sitting on my Facebook account I haven’t spoken to for nigh-on five years, (the occasional shallow digital platitude aside), but who seem intent on breathlessly updating their minute movements on the notice board whenever I (increasingly infrequently) log-in. Back in 2006 when the Facebook really took off, there was something ego-boostingly satisfying about racing to my first 100 friends, but now I find it a little tiring. Do I really need them all?

Facebook’s new email service, which combines a variety of communication methods, has been hailed to be the next Gmail- or even Email-killer, but recent GfK NOP data shows otherwise – that Facebook Messages is likely to be used alongside current email and instant messaging clients, and is unlikely to replace them, at least in the short term.

Known before only as “Project Titan”, the new Facebook messaging service is said to combine email, SMS, chat and Facebook email; users will also have the option to have a @facebook.com email address. Launched on 15 November this year, the service is, at present, by invitation only, but users can apply for an invite on the popular social networking site.

Gone are the days consumers choose mobile phones based solely on their features and functions. New research by GfK[1] shows that smartphone owners in key global markets buy into the ‘experiences’ created by the mobile ecosystem and the majority (56%) are ‘keeping their options open’, when deciding their next smartphone purchase.

Every quarter brings new reports of rapid growth in smartphones sales but a key question left unanswered is what is actually driving purchase in the high end smartphone category? Understanding drivers of purchase is naturally a complex subject due to the sheer number of factors that influence consumer decision making. Looking back as little as 3 years ago, the primary focus for many consumers was acquiring a well designed phone packed with the latest technology such as Wi-Fi, GPS, high resolution camera and so on. In recent years, however, development in mobile hardware has slowed and is arguably becoming less important. Of course, consumers still want good looking handsets with the latest technology, but with so much choice and less differentiation the mobile handset is potentially becoming a more commoditised purchase.

In the PC market, Microsoft’s Windows OS is as common as the mobile phone in your pocket. However, Windows Mobile has struggled to capture the imagination of both consumers and businesses. In fact, with a rapidly declining 5% [1] of the global smartphone market it’s fair to say that relatively speaking Windows Mobile has been a horrible failure. But that’s all about to change.

Recent research by GfK NOP [2] shows that interest in Windows Phone 7 (the catchy name given to the successor of Windows Mobile 6.5) is strong. Almost one in five (18%) of UK mobile phone owners say they would consider a Windows Phone 7 (let’s go with WP7 from here on in) handset (available on HTC and Samsung devices among others) when they next come to renew, upgrade or buy their next mobile phone. Of course current smartphone owners display much higher levels of interest (32%). What’s more, Microsoft will be pleased to hear that of all smartphone owners, those using Google’s Android will be most interested (41%) in WP7. So what’s changed?

The recent actions of the world’s biggest social network reveal its beliefs and ideals for digital society; openness and one identity. However, theories suggest that self identity is process of story-telling under constant revision. With our research showing that social networkers are actively sharing different amounts of personal information across different networks, the future of digital society lies in giving users more control over their personal and private identities online.

In April 2010, the actions of the world’s most used social networking site struck several chords of concern in our digital society. In changing default privacy settings for users, Facebook placed privacy as central to the internet paradigm. Discussion, debate and protest from social networkers, internet users, reporters, commentators and the 1,400 people based at the corporation’s HQ in California were focussed on notions of privacy.

Social media campaigns via popular sites like Facebook may be able to get ‘Rage Against The Machine’ to Number One in the music charts but they will have little influence on the outcome of the 2010 UK general election. In contrast, the televised election debates will prove a powerful platform for the three main political parties.

GfK NOP Technology research conducted online (so we would also expect a skew towards online sources) shows that TV debates have the most influence on how we vote as a nation. Despite the fieldwork for our survey being conducted after only the first of three televised debates on 16 April, they are still the number one source of information for the election on 6 May.

As an example of this contrast, official viewing figures suggest that around 8.4m viewers watched the third debate, vs. 3.2 m UK visitors to the BBC news website (with 350,000 streaming the debates online).

A recent UK study finds consumers have less faith in Facebook than either Microsoft or Google to keep their personal information private

Social networking sites typically involve disclosing often very personal information to your circle of friends and to this end, it is important to have faith that the social networking brand will respect the privacy of this information.  Recent research by GfK Technology indicates, however, that Facebook has lower levels of trust in keeping personal information private than either Microsoft or Google.  Given the remarkably high levels of usage of Facebook this is clearly a concern for the brand owners.

This illustrates the dilemma facing organisations such as Facebook – whilst consumer behaviour or personal information can be key to creating new services that are enjoyed by users, there is often a sense of unease about data being used in this way.  Furthermore, as is likely the case with Facebook, the illicit activity of unscrupulous users of the service (such as those posing as friends in order to conduct fraud of some description) has a knock-on effect for the brand.

GfK NOP research reveals most popular online brands in communication, entertainment and information services

The ‘Connected Life’ study, which asked 2,000 UK internet users about their favourite services, found 60% of music users stream music directly from the internet. While iTunes still leads the direct-streaming arena (17%), Spotify is coming up at a close second, with 12%.  Looking at all digital music users (not just direct streamers), 11% of these have used Spotify, making this fourth most popular digital music service, behind the more established Real Player (13%), Amazon (24%) and ITunes (50%). Another newcomer, Last.FM, also fares well with seven per cent having used the service; ahead of two of the pioneers of digital music mp3.com (5%) and Napster (4%).

Babita Earle, Divisional Director at GfK Technology comments: