Tech terms we need to stop overusing

2015 has come and gone and we’re properly seated right in the first quarter of 2016. It’s been good so far, wouldn’t you say? Artificial Intelligence is showing up in different places doing exciting functions and we, at Nine Connections, are very happy to be part of the process. So while we’re making our way into the future, let’s take a look at the trends that need to go away.

Last year saw a slew of beautiful innovative trends and then there were some that were quite frankly, a shitstorm. Here are some of things we hope not to see in 2016:

The Sharing Economy
I dare anyone to find a term that was more overused than the term the sharing economy. Although, to be fair, 2014 WAS indeed the year of the sharing economy. Consumers were able to go to local sellers instead of a large organization. Entities such as Etsy and AirBnB came into their own in this year.

However, 2015 had a whole slew of products which bandied around the term sharing economy. It seems as though any business that is aiming to target a consumer of any kind somehow gets labeled as being a part of the “sharing economy” and maybe it’s time for this to end.

Uberization
The concept of uberization once used to be path-breaking and innovative. All well and good. But let’s look at facts. Now it has taken the general meaning of disrupting any industry through the use of technology to circumvent unnecessary bureaucracy and legislation.This hasn’t meant the industry has been transformed into something lean or efficient, just into more disruptive. And thanks to their dubious business techniques, the original company Uber is now synonymous with unhappy associations such as price gouging, data gathering and controversy.

While we have seen an explosion of uberizations within marketplaces that make things like food delivery and makeup sessions a mobile click away, service marketplaces are currently quickly moving towards more sophisticated directions, into less disruptive, less controversial areas. Let’s hope Uber doesn’t follow them there. And please, let’s find a worthier company than Uber to –ize this year.

Visionaries, Evangelists, Social Justice Warriors and Gurus
It’s a little depressing to wander around online nowadays and finding miles and miles of self-proclaimed internet gurus, media wizards, online visionaries, to name just a few.

To be fair, there are true visionaries online, people with depth and vision who inspire us to think ahead, to prepare for a future that’s beautiful and powerful. What we’re talking about are dime-a-dozen yahoos peddling their thought processes like it’s the next best thing since sliced bread. At best, they are cheerfully repacking information that have been around for years. At worst, and more realistically, these titles are reduced to self-indulgent fawning adulations offered to entrepreneurs doing anything and everything in tech.

Some of them have good solid opinions and a relevant commentary and narrative but tacking on the term guru makes it a little difficult for us to take anyone seriously anymore.

With things like visual searches and live-streaming picking up steam in 2016, this is the year when we see consumers becoming influencers and data becoming smaller and more immersive.

And there we have it. The list of terms we hope will die in 2016. Not beloved and will not fondly remembered. We’re sure you guys will have your own pet peeves! Tell us in the comments below.