As technology begins acquiring capabilities we never thought were possible, especially in the wake of the mobile device revolution, it shouldn’t surprise us that IBM (News - Alert) is not only able to foretell the future of computers, but now fashion trends.

With IBM’s Social Sentiment program, based on analyses of more than half of a million public posts on social media platforms, it was able to predict that ‘steampunk’ will be a major trend in 2013. This new revelation reflects the changes in marketing research and the large emphasis placed on social media, as industries and businesses are using this information to create and sell its productions. 

Social media has been intertwined into our daily lives, creating new platforms of communicate that has been embraced by industries we never thought possible, like the medical field, television manufactures, marketing world, mobile devices, and even IBM’s analytics programs.

With such an importance placed on social media, IBM created a new technology that deciphers social media in order to find consumer trends for organizations.  IBM Social Sentiment uses advanced analyst and natural langue processing to analyze social media date to assess public opinions, like the steampunk trend.

IBM’s “Birth of a Trend” project is a new way to predict online trends, which can change the playing field for industries all over the world. This new research method studies online trends globally on social networks in order to help predict what trends are going to be commercially successful and profitable.

According to IBM, with the release of the new steampunk retail trend, major fashion labels, accessories providers and jewelry makers are expected to integrate a steampunk aesthetic into their designs in the coming year.

The effects of this new marketing prediction tool can change the whole outlook of a company and yearly strategy plans, just like it is has done in the fashion industry.

Social media has created a new pool of resources for industries to analyze and thrive off of, so it will be interesting to see how IBM’s new research tools will promote fundamental changes for businesses around the world.