~~#*$$ BlOG W!TH US $$*#~~

Social Networking will Broaden

There is also another trend that may be worth noting: the transformation of the net from websites to dynamic (blog type) websites, to multi-media capable social interaction points.

Facebook, Linkedin, hi5 and other such services with the backup of YouTube and Google Video are definitely on the upswing, and they will become much more important than they are today.

Their ease of use, low cost to the user, and multi media capability will likely make them a preferred channel for citizen reporting, for the publishing of individually or collaboratively produced content.

But even here, the providers would be well advised to curb their dreams of commercialization of the service.

As is already the case with Google, alternatives will spring up from unexpected quarters. Some kind of divine justice that counterbalances the trend of individuals getting lost in the commercial jungle set up by those with money to invest.

Peer-to-peer services that offer the next generation social interaction tools are not far away and we may catch a first glimpse in this coming year.

Users will, and this, in a way, is a perpetual struggle, "take back the net from the corporations" despite all the sophisticated commercial planning.

Some of the great income opportunities that exist today for those providing access to the net or advertising-financed space for others to use may disappear, perhaps very rapidly in some cases.

Mobile computing comes into the picture as a factor in favor of a broadening social network.

The mobile phone and the personal computer will meet somewhere midway and their synthesis will be a boon to social networking. Hopefully there will be increased awareness of the health costs associated with our current microwave-based mobile communication hardware, stimulating a change to other systems that do not have these drawbacks.