The Curiosity Stop is a monthly snackable report of all things innovative, aimed to interest, inform, and above all, inspire.

1. Curiosity Stop:
The Social Innovation
Roundup
June 2016

2. CURIOSITY STOP
‘Social Thinking’ is understanding how and why people communicate, and using this insight to
provide value for our clients. This understanding is an ongoing passion project for the agency.
Our global team of 550 keep a keen eye out for intriguing changes in the social landscape. We
take the best of these innovations and compile them in the monthly
Curiosity Stop.
You’ll see some examples which prove our social trendspotting, and others which indicate what
might happen next. But if you look really closely, you might catch a glimpse into the future of
how and why we use social.

3. Curiosity Stop >
We’re living in the fastest age ever. Think about the way we
consume information and interact with other people,
organisations, brands and publishers. The more signals and
messages we are exposed to, the less time we want to dedicate to
them. That’s why it’s more important than ever to build and share
useful content.
We now live in the age of consciousness: we are aware of the
privacy issues related to the platforms we access, and we have
confidence in the huge opportunities offered by new technologies.
This Curiosity Stop will explore four trends which highlight how
people are reacting to the latest innovations, and how our
behaviours will influence (and shape) the way some innovations
emerge during the next few months.
The future now is exciting. Isn’t it?
Luca Della Dora
Marketing & Innovation Director, Milan, We Are Social

4. Social Trend 1:
Conscious Community
Western society is becoming more conscious of the
effects of our actions on the world around us. We’
re now well informed about sweatshops and
human rights abuses in the supply chain, which
creates a collective feeling of guilt. Online groups
are forming around interests that actually do
something good. This isn’t hot air, but action.

5. The women behind Harass Tracker are
using crowdmapping to help women in
Beirut speak out about sexual
harassment.
Conscious Community
Harass Tracker
What’s it all about?
Harass Tracker is an online initiative set up by female
entrepreneurs in Beirut. There, as in many cities around
the world, sexual harassment often goes unreported.
On the website, you can log an incident of harassment,
and pin it on a map of Beirut. The founders are hoping
that not only will this change people’s perceptions
around sexual harassment and how it is talked about,
but also that they can use the data collected to help
offer advice on how to tackle this problem.
The bigger picture
Widespread access to smartphones means that all it
takes is a relatively simple software solution and a few
brave, dedicated individuals to create awareness, rally
support and eventually influence a widespread societal
problem.
CLICK TO TWEET:

6. Social Trend 2:
Wearable Social
The forecasted wearable device market value
for 2018 is $13Bn. We are entering a world of
“Wearable Social” where movement,
heartbeats and emojis are a new form of
social language.

7. Wearable Social
TipTalk
What’s it all about?
TipTalk is here to solve the issue of privacy with
smartphones (and blow your mind a little bit, too).
Ever had the sound of your mum’s voice echo round a
packed train? Or a particularly nosy neighbour read
your texts on the bus? You need a TipTalk!
It’s a strap which can be attached to any watch. When
you get a call, your TipTalk vibrates. Simply hold your
fingertip to your ear and the sound waves travel up
your hand, so you (and only you) can hear. The TipTalk
will even read out your texts or emails.
The bigger picture
As Wearable Social continues to shift from an early
adopter trend to a mainstream industry, the devices
will become extensions of ourselves, not only
metaphorically, but, like with TipTalk, quite
literally.
CLICK TO TWEET:
TipTalk lets you answer your phone
using only your finger (and a watch
strap). Watch your back, Bond.

8. Wearable Social
The Posting Tail
What’s it all about?
Ever made a Facebook page or Instagram account for
your pup? Don’t lie, I’ve seen what Monty gets up to on
the weekend - all flat whites and avocado toast. With
The Posting Tail by Pedigree, pets can post to Facebook
themselves.
The Posting Tail is a dog vest with a Raspberry Pi
processor and accelerometer that can tell how excited
your dog is by its tail wags. When your pet gets really
excited, the in-built camera will snap a photo and
upload it to Facebook. Let’s hope flat whites are all
Monty gets excited by.
The bigger picture
We use social media to get a glimpse into our loved
ones’ lives, so it’s only natural that the Wearable Social
trend is opening up to our fluffier family members.
CLICK TO TWEET:
Start practising your duck face, Fifi.
Your pet can now post photos to
Facebook, thanks to The Posting Tail.

9. Social Trend 3:
Anti-Social
Anti-Social is a consumer response to the
negative effects of having to maintain a social
persona and being ‘always on’.

10. Anti-Social
Ponder
What’s it all about?
We’ve officially reached peak social network. How do we
know? With the launch of the first ‘anti-social network’,
Ponder. Fed up with the celebs, narcissists and cyber-
bullies of Instagram, the app promises everyone an
equal opportunity to go viral.
No-one knows how many followers each Ponderer has,
so there’s a level-playing field with content. The founders
are hoping this means that only truly good content will
be spread.
The bigger picture
With the ever-widening gap between multi-million
follower celebs and ambitious social newcomers,
people have become skeptical about whether
good content is all it takes to get public
recognition. Let’s see if the demand for
neutral platforms will continue to rise.
CLICK TO TWEET:
.@ponder is the first ‘democratic’ social
network, where it doesn’t matter how
many followers (if any) you’ve got.

11. Social Trend 4:
Social VR
Virtual reality, which immerses the user in a
computer-generated or photo-real simulation
of an environment, is slowly gaining
momentum. Currently most VR/360
experiences are a one person affair. VR 2.0 is
almost upon us which will allow us to
communicate socially in a virtual
environment.

12. Social VR
Galactica
What’s it all about?
One of the problems with VR is that you might feel a little
silly exploring space through a headset, while sat in the
living room with your Mum and Dad watching TV and
bemoaning the youth of today. Good news! With the first
VR rollercoaster, you can feel silly with dozens of other
thrill-seekers.
You don a Samsung Gear VR headset as you board Alton
Tower’s Galactica, and wear it for the whole ride. You’ll be
sent into space, guided by an on-board artificial
intelligence. It’s virtual insanity.
The bigger picture
Although not strictly Social VR, the implementation of VR
into thrill rides officially signals its move into the
mainstream entertainment market. It’s time the wider
public got a taste of virtual reality.
CLICK TO TWEET:
The first virtual reality rollercoaster is
here! Now you can vomit everywhere
and no one will notice… ‘til the end.

13. Social Trend 5: On The
Horizon
These final innovations don’t fit neatly into
our trends (dammit), but we reckon they
are worth a mention. Successful
innovations create expectation, so we’ll be
keeping a keen eye on them. Watch this
space - if they turn into a wider trend, you’ll
be the first to know.

14. Get your mates Over Here, stat! The
more friends you have, the bigger (and
better) this music video gets.
On The Horizon
Over Here
What’s it all about?
Over Here is a music video for the digital age. The
creators get that people don’t watch music channels
on their TV anymore (ah, the 90s…), they check out
their favourite artists’ videos straight from their
phone.
So what’s new about Over Here? You can build hip-
hop duo Rae Sremmurd’s music video, by getting
your mates involved. Link multiple screens together
via overhere.tv, and watch the video experience get
even bigger and better.
The bigger picture
Creating the first ever multi-device, interactive video
is a unique way to bring people together and make a
music video experience social, much in the same
way that a gig unites people.
CLICK TO TWEET:

15. On The Horizon
Juicebox
What’s it all about?
Sex ed is not sexy. Years of trying to stretch a condom
over a banana has taught us that. Juicebox founder
Brianna Rader has decided to meet teens where they
are - not in the classroom, but on their phones.
Rader created an app which is fun first, education
second. Teens can swipe left to ‘Snoop’ - ask sexual
health professionals whatever question they like. Or
they can ‘Spill’ their own sex stories, and upvote other
gruesome tales.
The bigger picture
For today’s teens, the anonymous, short-form, swipe
right format of communication has become the norm.
Want to reach them? Take inspiration from Snapchat
and Tinder, who have defined how Gen Z interact with
each other and consume content.
CLICK TO TWEET:
Sex ed just got cool! Kind of. Juicebox is
an app where teens can ask ‘sexperts’
all their burning questions.

16. CONSCIOUS COMMUNITY
Harass Tracker
WEARABLE SOCIAL
TipTalk
The Posting Tail
ANTI-SOCIAL
Ponder
SOCIAL VR
Galactica
ON THE HORIZON
Over Here
Juicebox

17. WE ARE SOCIAL
We Are Social is a global agency with offices in five continents
(Antarctica is a little too chilly for our liking).
We deliver world-class creative ideas with forward-thinking brands, and have fun doing it. Our
clients include adidas, Google and Netflix.
As an international team of 550+, our passion is people. Our mission is to put social thinking at
the centre of marketing.
Trendspotting might get us unnaturally excited, but what really counts is action. If you'd like to
speak to We Are Social about how to make innovation work for your brand, email us at
talktous@wearesocial.net