They’re not just scary trends that invade our privacy. Even frightening tools can be used for good. Amy Webb of Webbmedia Group, a digital strategy agency, highlighted three current trends that could be made relevant to community foundations at the Knight Foundation Media Learning Seminar.

1. Social discovery. Tagging, or captioning, pictures with hyperlinks occurs across social media sites. Tagging currently creates networks of facial recognition that allows search based on facial images. Even though this is scary on one hand, on another it could allow for vast networks of help or support.
2. Mobile data. Everyone who uses mobile phones and tools on the phone is being tracked. Mobile phones can reveal biometrics, bus arrival times, and serve as predictors of personal preferences for marketing research. Lots of information can be collected via mobile technology and can be used to pinpoint a community’s areas of need.
3. Gamification. “We start from the point of view that we should teach people stuff, and they are inherently not fun.” Rules of gamification: what is the purpose? Players must believe in the purpose of the game. It must create good vibes – that positive outcomes occur for actions. It must be inherently social. It must have a clear beginning and end or levels.
   Instead of gamifying everything, bring elements of gaming to ongoing work.

Download a complete set of Webb’s notes here, with case studies that could be implemented for each.

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s 2012 Media Learning Seminar in Miami Florida brought together leaders of community foundations, media professionals, technology entrepreneurs, researchers, educators, and foundation staff in the foundation’s quest for informed and engaged communities. I attended as a representative of the James L. Knight School of Communication at Queens University of Charlotte, a grantee of Knight Foundation. Read my articles on the conference here.