7 Very-Likely Visions Of Social Networking’s Future: Is This Web 3.0?
Not too long ago, receiving news depended upon your daily newspaper and your dose of magazines and TV. If you had an opinion to share with the rest of the community, you would rarely get the opportunity, unless of course, you were part of the media elite or a revered critic in your own right. For the less influential though, projecting their take on an issue was a distant dream. The established media had its own notions about letting the common man have his say – carefully guarded procedures and a wary control over public opinion meant that an outsider rarely made a mark on the literary scene.
Well, the Internet changed all that. The marked media-shift has been born of nothing less than sustained efforts to change the way the world shares news. It’s no more the sole prerogative of a choice few; information now flows instantaneously across the globe. The age of the Web 2.0 has finally arrived and is here to stay. You, the layman, can now not only write on topics close to your heart, but can be heard and judged an expert if you have adequate following. Sites from Wikipedia and Slashdot to even Google count on the web savvy to become authoritative sources on a given subject.
The question that many people are asking themselves is: “Where is technology headed?”
Considering that there are now kids in college who don’t remember a time before the Internet, we can only imagine what will be possible in just a few short years.
Here is a list of scenarios and technologies that will shape the Internet’s future. Some are already available and a few we’d like to look forward to in the near future:
1. Niche Clubs
While Myspace and Facebook may have introduced the world to social networking, it is evolving quickly. There is new web-based software coming out (such as channelme.tv) that can turn just about any blog into a social networking site. So, if you want to talk about cats all day, you can have a million other cat lovers on your blog talking about them with you.
2. Iphone and geography tracking
The days of tell your parent that you are going to the movies when you are really going to a party are over. Not only can your parents track your geographic location, but just about everyone else can too. The days of getting lost when following someone in a vehicle are over.
3. Streaming Live Video
Want to be the star of your own show? Now you can! And, it is incredibly easy to do. Sites like www.ustream.tv allow anyone with a $20 webcam to host their own show. In the past, if you missed your favorite television show, you pretty much had to depend on your friends to inform you of what happened. Not anymore! In fact, many shows now stream new episodes at the same time, or very quickly after the show has aired. Why live your life according to someone’s schedule, when you can watch your favorite shows where you want, when you want? This philosophy is applied to movies as well. Netflix, Apple TV and Vudu all offer movies streamed right to your computer.
4. Social Lending
Need a personal loan? You used to have to go to the bank, fill out a stack of paperwork, have to prove how worthy you were and then spend a week waiting to see if you were approved. Now, getting a personal loan is easier than ever. Peer to Peer Lenders like Lending Club can get you a 25K personal loan funded by individuals across the USA. You still have to fill out personal information, but the stacks of paperwork that we were all accustomed to are now ancient history. While there are still some people who are little apprehensive about applying online for loans, security features are updated constantly, making it safer everyday to share information online.
5. Online Elections
While this idea hasn’t quite caught on yet, just think of the possibilities. If we can do everything from purchasing movie tickets to paying our bills online, why can’t we vote online as well? Not only would there be a larger number of people voting, but if done properly, there would be less errors and it would be more secure.
6. Mobile Profiles
With GPS, WiFI and iphone like devices it isnt hard to imagine one day walking into a bar and being able to scroll through the profiles of everyone who comes within certain proximity to you. While this may sound like something out of Minority Report, this just might be our reality in the near future.
7. Universal Connectivity
If you are like me, trying to keep track of all of your usernames and passwords can be extremely difficult. Especially trying to remember what sites required a capital letter and symbol in the password, along with at least one number. On top of the rules for the actual password, you are warned not to use birthday, address, your dog’s name or anything else that will help you remember your password. You have also been warned not to use the same username and password at more then one site. How can anyone keep up? In the near future you won’t have to. Sites such as www.openid.com are coming close to safely allowing users to only need one username and one password for everything. These accounts will link all of your various networks in one place. This is welcome news to people all over the world, who have trouble remembering birthdays, let alone what username goes with what password.
Hold on tight because the future is here! Technology is progressing quickly. Make sure you are on board for the ride.
Photo by Lousivilla
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15 Responses to “7 Very-Likely Visions Of Social Networking’s Future: Is This Web 3.0?”
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3.0? This is like Windows Vista all over again!
My goal is to make social networking ubiquitous, interconnected and completely open. My project is called Appleseed.
I also believe in #5…I’m a co-founder of Podvoters.org which aims to have an entirely online political party which would run entirely online nominating elections–which have numerous advantages and could rid us of many of the ills of the current mass media driven election process (which I don’t have to remind anyone has fairly miserable outcomes e.g. the current administration)
WEB 3.0 is only about aggregating the personal information WEB 2.0 gathered about you
There’s a example of exactly what you mention in point 2, which was featured in Slashdot yesterday. Not sure if they have the iPhone client ready, but I’ve seen a youtube video of the Mac version (I’m not sure, but I think porting an app from Mac to the iPhone isn’t too hard). BTW, the site is http://bynotes.com
Web 3.0? Another meaningless buzzword that the world could use without… These are technologies that exist, to some degree,already, but really a lot of them are somewhat undesirable, I have to say.
I don’t want Twitter telling my GPS location, I appreciate the fact that remembering a billion passwords sucks, but at the same time what happens when you slip up *once*. Simple phishing scams will go from manageable nuisances to life-altering screw-ups. As much as I appreciate the value of this abundance of technology it’s terrifying to think what this will do to our ability to get away from it all. At this point all too many databases house my my identity on the web, the last thing I need is a massive aggregation of all that data.
It’s pretty scary how much you can learn about somebody just by typing their name in, pretty soon nobody will be able to separate their identity online from their identity in the real world, I don’t want the MPAA sending me a subpeona because they did a Google search on me… something to think about I guess.
More of the trends are triggered by the advance in hardware technology. Human beings are very social and there is a huge potential for communcation technologies. The web is getting increasingly diffused, thanks to mobile devices and other entertainment, domestic appliances. So, is the increase in the way people can stay connected, not just connected by to enhance this experience, something that is close to talking in person.
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Online voting… more secure… I’d eat my hat the day that happened.
Why can’t we vote online as well? You may need to consider the fact that about about 25% of Americans still aren’t even using the internet. Only about half of Americans have broadband in the home (http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Broadband_2008.pdf). Besides, just think of all the sites that have crashed under the minor surge of visitors when a new gadget is announced or breaking news is posted. If they can’t handle a few thousand visitors, how is a site suppose to handle tens of millions? Not to mention the issues of tracking votes, on-site voter assistance and security.
It’s a fantastic concept, but until we make some major strides in WiFi adoption, bandwidth allocation, internet adoption and security, you can probably move this out of the “near future” category.
7 Very-Likely Visions of Social Networkings Future: Is This Web 3.0?…
The question that many people are asking themselves is: Where is technology headed? Considering that there are now kids in college who dont remember a time before the Internet, we can only imagine what will be possible in just a few short years….
7 Very-Likely Visions of Social Networking’s Future: Is This Web 3.0?…
The question that many people are asking themselves is: “Where is technology headed?” Considering that there are now kids in college who don’t remember a time before the Internet, we can only imagine what will be possible in just a few short year…
While all of your predictions make a lot of sense, I define Web 3.0 a little differently. I define Web 3.0 as “receiver control,” no longer will the sender send information when they want to, in the format they want to and during a time when the receiver is not in the “state” that they are available to receive it. I like this internet video on “spreading it around” and constantly creating content in order to drive more traffic. http://tinyurl.com/5r4cf3
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