How Will the Internet Change in the Next Few Decades?
The question of how the Internet will change in the next few decades is as relevant today as it ever has been.
In fact, if we take a look at where we were 20 years ago, it appears we are on the verge of making some major breakthroughs in the coming years:
Shared Spaces: The Internet has grown to become a vast collection of shared spaces, each with different access rules. Content providers such as Google and Facebook have grown to become the most important entities of the internet. Facebook for example has allowed its community of 30 million users to exchange 500 million posts daily. Allowing everyone to post a piece of content using their own page of a user should not go unnoticed. In fact, Facebook has received over 3 billion content feeds on a daily basis. Looking ahead to this trend, it will be interesting to see how a new network will emerge, where each individual can build and maintain a private network for posting articles, photos, and other content to the internet.
Just as the internet allowed individuals to connect through specific channels, it could do the same with just one channel.
In other words, the internet could be more of a public and private space than it is now.
At the same time, there could be private channels for specific content.
Blogs: Creating a blog is not only difficult, it is almost impossible for a new person to create a blog today. A new person wishing to create a blog must first acquire an email address and then apply for a blog spot on a specific website. For a blogger seeking to build a fan base or gain a lot of attention, this is virtually impossible. This is why most bloggers now either build a website and advertise directly or use a content distribution network, such as Facebook or YouTube.
While there is a space for everyone on the internet, there is also a space for only one person.
However, that is not the case on the Web. There are over 40 million blogs on the internet today. This is a problem that bloggers want to solve.
While the topic of creating a blog may not be realistic for some people, it is possible to build an online blog. The problem is that it requires an enormous amount of time.
Applying the Law of Compulsory Advertising: Once we make it possible for users to create content, it would be easier to make it mandatory to share the content. This is exactly what is happening today on social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook. Once a user creates a personal account on Twitter, Facebook, or any other social media site, that person should be required to share their personal content to all of their friends. It is now the case that people have to publicly share the content they post on their Facebook page. While that may be annoying, it could also change the entire world if it goes well.
The same would happen on other sites such as YouTube, which allows its users to post the videos they create for other users to view.
While the topic of creating a social media account could be hard for some people to understand, there are some aspects of the law that require something similar.
The Internet Becomes More Private: It may seem strange today, but once users are allowed to create their own private networks, the entire world will become more private than it has been in the past.
Once the capability to create private networks becomes available, users will be able to build separate networks that can exist completely independently from the existing social networks. While many users may want to share their content with their friends, they also may want to share it with no one at all. This could become possible once users are allowed to create and maintain private networks.
Google is already working on providing private networks, such as Hangouts. However, this is not something users should go unnoticed. In fact, Google has received over 3 billion content feeds on a daily basis. Looking ahead to this trend, it will be interesting to see how a new network will emerge, where each individual can build and maintain a private network for posting articles, photos, and other content to the internet.
Just as the internet allowed individuals to connect through specific channels, it could do the same with just one channel.
Facebook and Twitter: Many people do not want to share their personal content with Facebook or Twitter. In fact, if a user posts content to a Facebook wall, they do not want to share that with the world. In this case, there could be private networks that separate posts that are meant for a select group of friends. For example, a user may want to post a picture to Facebook to share with their friends.
