What is the Future of Social Media?

The future is endless for the world of social media.  If you think it isn't then you are not currently up to date with the latest craze. Individuals began using social media and now businesses everywhere are using it to communicate internally and externally with employees, clients, perspective clients, and suppliers. 

Many technological  advances are already in place to further develop the use of social media. Arduino technology will allow objects to tweet us. These tweets might warn us that the iron was left on or that your security alarm went off.  Perhaps we will reach a point where we can receive tweets that an elderly loved one, who lives alone, has fallen or stopped breathing.

Optical Pattern Recognition  and Augmented Reality is technology used to identify objects.  This is great tool for identifying priceless jems, or pieces of art.  However, this technology is also looking into biometric face recognition.  It is currently being used, in a rudementary way, by police but imagine the possibilities in the future.  Perhaps you are single and want to date someone but you are not sure. Biometric face technology could allow you to scan, from a distance, there on the spot, and then be supplied with feedback on your possible date.  Would this technology be considered a safety asset or an invasion of privacy? 

Mind Reading Technology is also a future contender in the social media world. Neuroscientist are already able to determine simple things about us even before we do.  Research is already underway which will help many people who are unable to comunicate or even move, to communicate to others or to limbs and fingers in order to move that part of their body .  Standford University calls this Brain -Computer Interfacing.  Emotiv has created a headset that reads your mind and is already enabling the use of an electric wheel chair by a disabled person and for playing games.  In the future perhaps we will only have to think of what we want to do on the computer and it will do it. 

Virtual world technology is also advancing in leaps and bounds. Educational institutes are already using sites such as Second Life as a teaching tool to more actively engage students in learning material through games and in the future, as a simulation tool.  Imagine simulation involving virtual worlds and the Mind Read Technology.  Students could practice skills both physical and critical thinking in a simulation lab in the comfort of their home thru their TV. Another future use of virtual worlds and mind reader might be for fitness training.  Instead of turning on the TV at the treadmill, you would put on your headset starat working out with your virtual fitness trainer who will be able to target your program according to your own bodies condition and adjust the program at any time depending on your health and physical status at that moment.

Many of todays social media tools are becoming attainable thru your cell phones and iPods and so I am sure future technological advances in social media will also be made available thru your cell phone.  Perhaps they will combine the use of geometric sensors(navigational compass) and virtual worlds so that you can find your way.

Web 3 and Semantics will allow you to have a sort of technological best friend, someone who knows and understands what you like to do, to watch, to read, to eat, what issues you care about and find all of those things for you, even automatically.  All this based on the computer understanding what you want and your history.

Will the future use of social media be used primarily in a positive manner, such as for education, for recognizing crimminals and  for helping those with disabilities live a better and more productive life? Or will it be used to control people, to follow people, and insure that we all think "The Right Thoughts".  Will Orson Wells' novel "1984"  become a reality. Or perhaps we will socialize as in the Matrix?  Is social media slowly taking away personal contact? I for one think that the future advances and use of social media will be positive, but it will certainly be different.

References

Borel, B. (2009). Mind-reading tech may not be far off. Retrieved December 5, 2010, from http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2009-06/mind-reading-tech-way

Inc Magazine. (2010,  December 2008). Emotiv's mind reading headset [video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcWKneKWt0U&feature=related

msporny (2010, December 2007). Intro to semantic web [video file]. Retreived from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGg8A2zfWKg

Olsen, A. (2005). An overview of biometric face recognition and video identifing technologies. Retrieved December 5, 2010, from http://www.video-surveillance-guide.com/biometric-face-recognition.htm

Shenoy, K. (2010, January 2009). Brain-computer interfaces [video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7lmJe_EXEU&feature=channel