With the emergence of social media in such a short amount of time, we can only expect the growth to continue. This growth will cause people to not only rethink marketing strategies from a business perspective, but also cause people to be more cautious of what they are putting out on the web about themselves from a personal perspective.

In a recent blog post on Search Engine Watch, there were seven predictions made for social media in 2009. Since we are now just tipping off 2009, this is the perfect time to start weighing in on these predictions.

Prediction #1: Rapid Growth of Social Media Will Continue
This prediction is probably a given. With the rapid growth we’ve seen so far, it’s not far-fetched to believe that this will continue. Some reasons given for this rapid growth is (1) the ease in which phones are able to access social media sites and (2) the 35-50 age range will adopt social media mainly to keep in touch with those from the past and to grow business connections.

Prediction #2: Surge in Business Networks Due to Economic Crisis
I know we have all heard enough about the economy, but unfortunately, the economy can affect other things and cause a domino effect. Because of the high levels of unemployment, many will look to online business networks (for example: LinkedIn) as their primary source in networking to find employment.

Prediction #3: Many Free Services Will Go Away
Everyone’s out to make a profit and companies will start to realize that it’s getting harder and harder to make these profits, which causes them to look at new revenue models. As a result, many marketers will turn away from these once free services and leverage social media to turn a profit.

Prediction #4: More Traditional Broadcast Television Will Move Online
We can compare this trend to the trend that has recently developed regarding landline phone vs. the cell phones. Many households no longer have a landline phone because they have a cell phone and it’s an extra expense that can be easily cut. Likewise, as more television shows become accessible for free online many people may begin to cut their cable services. This is further supported by the fact that YouTube already supports HD.

Prediction #5: Social Media Will Change Offline Behavior
As more and more people are moving to social media, you never know what people may have read about you. The openness of social media will cause people to be more cautious. The author of the post says specifically “people may start leading their lives as if their mother is watching.”

Prediction #6: More Searches for Products and Services on Social Media Sites
The search engines already have some competition when it comes to social media sites. This trend will continue. Since people are more into reviews and what their “friends” are buying, more people will look towards social media to view opinions rather than just searching for a product on Google.

Prediction #7: Marketing Budgets Will Shrink
Again, using the economic downturn as a basis, executives will look more towards organic social media initiatives since these initiative will likely be cheaper than the traditional types of advertising (TV, radio, newspaper) as well as online paid search and banner advertising.

Overall, it is expected that social media will cause many things to change not only in the business world but also in many people’s personal lives. The predictions emphasize the fact that the emergence of social media is something that should not be taken lightly.