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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Will “Web 3.0″ take over social networking? Is “Web 3.0″ already here?

That’s what this blog will explore.

I believe the future of social interaction online will be in harnessing the power of mobile and online applications to connect more easily in the “real world”. The real world being our physical world as well as new forms of interaction in real-time video chat, meeting rooms, etc.

It’s going to be a wild ride the next few years!