And one more summary of my blog posts that have attracted the most interest this year, this time on the topic of influence, which has become very central to my interests and research.

1. Launch of the Influence Landscape framework (Beta)
A visual framework to explain the role and mechanisms of influence today

2. “Influence is the future of media”
Why influence is at the center of where the media industry is going

3. Sponsored Tweets opens up the world of monetizing influence
Ways in which the world of paid influence is coming to the fore

4. Influence research: Duncan Watts and the debate on whether “influentials” really matter
Watts research has been very influential but there are limitations to his approach

5. Influence research: what are the real influence networks within Twitter and social media?
What is the difference between followers and influence?

6. Five key trends in how influence is transforming society
Article that received a lot of attention in the lead-up to Future of Influence Summit

7. What are the business models for influence and reputation - today and in the future?
One of the most interesting topics - the strategic landscape and where the money is

8. Will Influencism supplant Capitalism? The emergence of the influence economy
Reflections on the influence economy in the wake of Future of Influence Summit

I have had extensive media coverage this week for my forecasts for social technologies for 2016. One of the predictions that has attracted the most attention is that lifestreaming will become commonplace. Many of us will capture videos, images, audio of conversations and far more. This may be to record for our own purposes, to share with friends or family, or to provide access to teh world at large.

The underlying technologies to do it are certainly available, including cheap storage. However the practical tools that make it easy are only just now getting onto the market. It is not easy to rig up automated cameras or head-mounted video recorders and automatically synchronize with online systems.

The latest is a tool specifically designed for lifestreaming. New Scientist says:

Worn on a cord around the neck, the camera takes pictures automatically as often as once every 30 seconds. It also uses an accelerometer and light sensors to snap an image when a person enters a new environment, and an infrared sensor to take one when it detects the body heat of a person in front of the wearer. It can fit 30,000 images onto its 1-gigabyte memory.

The Vicon camera will be marketed to researchers initially at around US$820, and be available to consumers next year.

Interestingly, the device has emerged from the Microsoft Sensecam, which has been shown to help people with Alzheimers and dementia to recall the events of the day. This kind of memory aid could be equally as valuable to the rest of us.