People, organizations, and society began to look ahead to influence their futures rather than just surviving the present, according to recent McKinsey research.

Premature dreams for herd immunity, the end of pandemic lockdowns, and a return to normalcy were dashed this year — at least for the time being. Aside from the Great Social Media Resignation, when burnt-out Gen Z workers quit their jobs on TikTok and Instagram, the rise of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and the introduction of the metaverse, the world’s space-going billionaires were as wealthy and productive in business and technology as they’d ever been.

While it’s difficult to make precise predictions in the unpredictably unpredictable situation we’ve been in for the past two years, the year ahead will be full of surprises. Here are six digital trends that will have an impact on people’s lives in 2022.

Improved privacy, quality, and algorithm changes on social media

In feeds, platforms will focus on privacy and content quality. Despite recent public criticism, Facebook is expected to increase its membership and earnings.

By the end of 2022, all major social media platforms will have changed their privacy rules and altered their algorithms with an eye on privacy and content quality. A new tribe of creative influencers will emerge in response to the demand for powerful, engaging content, and will have a significant impact on branding and engagement.

Instagram and TikTok are anticipated to see an increase in ad spending in 2022, thanks to the growing popularity of short-form video content, and Instagram will continue to grow beyond its 50% ad income share. Customer service and relationship management, which are currently underutilized in social media marketing, will eventually thrive on these platforms.

Enter the metaverse: transitioning from a 2D to a 3D web

In October 2021, Mark Zuckerberg announced a brand name change to “Meta,” signaling Facebook’s desire to shape the metaverse revolution. The word relates to the virtual and augmented reality possibilities. Some refer to it as a virtual shared place that may be accessed via virtual reality headsets, augmented reality glasses, or smartphone apps.

Users can engage, socialize, explore, and produce content in a virtual world, and use blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies to monetize their virtual transactions. NFTs and cryptocurrencies, which commercialize interactions by creating or selling digital artifacts, are inextricably related to the metaverse (or 3web). 3web is predicted to be a major commercial issue by 2022, with major brands such as Nike, Adidas, Gucci, Prada, Puma, Microsoft, and others supporting it.

Crypto and NFT growth will be accelerated.

In 2021, the use of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) rose, and this trend is expected to continue in 2022. NFTs are a novel value exchange mechanism that has transformed the value and function of all digital assets and artworks in the global online economy.

NFTs have evolved from a passing novelty to a new economy, according to the Harvard Business Review. NFTs are one-of-a-kind digital assets that can be bought and traded just like any other. Tokenisation is the process of transforming sensitive data, such as an account number, into a random string of characters known as a token that has no meaning if it is compromised. These digital tokens can be used to purchase actual items such as paintings in person, as well as virtual assets such as digital art, in-app purchases, and even virtual properties.

Over the next three years, the Frankfurt School Blockchain Centre expects a market for tokenized assets in Europe worth US$1.5 trillion (£1.1 trillion). Assets that can be tokenized include real estate, debt, bonds, shares, copyrights, actual art, virtual art, and collectibles.

This is unquestionably a significant step toward realizing one of cryptocurrency’s most important promises: financial inclusion. Investing in alternative or traditional assets can be difficult or prohibitively expensive at times. Crowdfunding and Fintech (financial technology that automates and improves financial services) will enable investors of all sizes to participate in a diverse variety of assets.

The rise of AI in the food and HR services industries

AI has the potential to revolutionize the way we think about, create, and consume food, as well as the way we look for work. Many organizations are using AI to extend the way they analyze and appraise job prospects, according to Michael Spranger, COO of Sony’s artificial intelligence team. He also mentions that some of the most fascinating AI applications in gastronomy would expand chefs’ and culinary specialists’ imagination and inventiveness beyond what is currently achievable. At McDonald’s and other restaurants, robots like Flippy are already flipping burgers.

More digital transformation = more connectivity

Faster connections will be enabled by 5G and the new Wi-Fi 6 standard, which is critical if the globe is to adopt these new digital trends. “Future applications will include smart cities, the internet of things, and vehicle-to-vehicle communications – which would ideally improve traffic flow and safety,” said Jerry Paradise, vice president of product management at Lenovo, a Chinese computer company.

Working from home will become increasingly “hybrid,” according to Lenovo, as consumers and businesses continue to look beyond the box. Smaller and smarter devices, as well as cordless and noise-canceling headphones, are expected to be used by a vast majority of IT executives in the future. Hybrid employees can participate in video meetings and make phone calls from anywhere, not only from home.

A new workplace necessitates the acquisition of new abilities.

Skills will be the next thing to change as the workplace changes. According to the World Economic Forum, new vocations will account for 27% of large corporation employee bases in 2022, while technologically obsolete jobs would fall from 31% to 21%.

The shift in labor distribution between humans, computers, and algorithms has the potential to eliminate 75 million existing job opportunities while creating 133 million new ones. Data analysts, software and app developers, e-commerce experts, and social media experts will all be in great demand.

Customer service, organizational development, and innovation management are among the “human” jobs that are predicted to rise. So, rather than “stealing our jobs,” AI will create opportunities and assure employment in a variety of professions.