What chat client do you use to talk to people online?
Right now if you want to chat with someone you have to log into a platform, whether the platform is aim, gtalk, or facebook is irrelevant. The point is that you need to log in to “something” to have access to your friends, contacts, networks, etc. Online networking and communication is fragmented with a countless number of platforms, chat clients, tools, and resources. There is information everywhere yet nowhere. How do you think online communication will change in the future? What are the possibilities?
Perhaps this is a hypothetical topic, perhaps not; but think about this. What if the internet became it’s own social network. Meaning, there was no login, there was no platform. What if every time I moved my mouse and showed that I was active online, all of my contacts and connections immediately new and could connect with me? Using the internet as a social network would make the internet the ultimate aggregator and macro social network that could exist. But is it probable or even possible, and what would happen to sites such as facebook? I’m curious to see what will happen to social media and online community collaboration and communication in the next few years. Could internet service providers, computer manufacturers, and technology companies offer a universal client that came preinstalled on every machine and with every internet connection, for free? If not, then how much would it cost?
We are seeing sites such as friendfeed and socialmedia act as aggregators and we are also seeing sites such as ning allow for the creation of extreme niche networks. We are moving to the fringes on both sides, to two extremes, the ultimate niche networks and the ultimate aggregator networks, but when does it stop? How much of a niche network can you get and how much of an aggregator network can you get?
I ask these questions because I think it’s important to look at the big picture and to understand where things are now and where they can possibly go. I don’t know we wold create an internet social network that acts as the ultimate aggregator but then there was a time when people didn’t know how they would light up a room, explore space, or communicate with each other without seeing each other. We have the technology…will it happen, when?
What are your thoughts? Can the internet become it’s own social network? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this and anything else relationg to the subject.
Thanks for reading everyone!
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