As we all know, facebook will eventually be replaced by something new. The question is when, and what the heck will it be. Here are my ideas/predictions:
1. This future social networking site must flow better into our normal lives; it must feel like a more natural stream of information. Right now, it still feels a bit “unnatural” to take time to sign on and check our page. In the future, online social networking will be a part of our normal stream of life.
2. All mobile devices, especially phones, will sync flawlessly back with our one centralized social networking site. Right now we have to take extra time to set up such things as sms notifications and status updates. Soon, everything will work together.
3.This future site must be able to portray a better image of who one truly is. Think about it.Right now, if you have a friend who decides to hate you one day (always a good reason not to give out your password) he/she could change your internet image in about 5 min; all they would have to do is change your info, pic, and write on a few people’s walls under your name. Then, to further anger you, they could post negative blog comments via blogger or wordpress and reference your facebook account. This would completely tain your name. Anytime somebody decided to look you up on google, all of this incorrect, harmful information would be displayed thus ruining real life job opportunities, relationships, and friendships. The “next facebook” will have something I like to call verified account; an unhackable, true online identity that is uniquely yours.
4. Different people will be able to view your profile differently. For example, you would be able to tell this futuristic site that you want your boss to see a different profile pic, set of wallposts, and other info. This would preserve the personal privacy and freedoms we enjoy in real life.
5. New methods of online communication will be implemented. Whether you recognize it or not, technology is becoming “smarter” and more “multi-touch.” This social networking site of the future will be able to express our day to day moods and expressions. This maybe a hard concept to comprehend but, it actually makes a ton of sense if you think about it. If we continually change day to day, why shouldn’t we do the same online? Also, multi-touch environments will allow for us to imput and sent out more information and data to the web. This futuristic social networking site will reflect that.
6. This idea struck me the other day. Human relationships will be reflected in the way that friend’s profiles work together. For example, each of my parents have a facebook page. They are linked via the little relationship status, and it says they are married. However, two of my friends could link their profiles in the same way. This is not right. Human relationships must be replicated online. For truly married couples, they should have separate profiles that somehow work together. This would reflect the true human relationship they have. Similarly, brothers, sisters, or other sibilings’ profiles would work together in ways different than just two friends’ profiles would.
7. These future sites will be recognized as much, much more than just a fun way to connect with friends. Rather the same site will interact with school, work, and for friends, just as you as person would. Imagine combining the power of google docs, facebook, twitter, your cell phone, wordpress, flickr, and every other social web 2.0 site together. Now take that image and introduce the few ideas i have just presented. This is the future of the Web and of our society.
Andrew Rauh 
Very nice article Andrew, and you have some very good ideas as well as thought out points. However, I’ll be the one to start contradiction 🙂
about #1 Yes, it’s absolutely normal that internet is taking a huge affect on everyday life…I could write a book about the acts and “why and what we’re becoming today” but I don’t have the time or space of course to do so. To sum things up humorously: “Internet is taking over the world because of it’s multi-attraction” (i.e. social, games, information etc.) Kind of reminds me of a lighter: keep out of reach of children or suffer the consequences! The fact is, although Arpanet was created 30 years ago, “the new internet” has been around for almost only a decade… it’s distracting many students from doing what they’re really supposed to be doing: learning. How odd it is that the Internet is the #1 source for information but it does only the opposite of that. PS3, Xbox? nahh…soon it’ll be computers, as you said, that kids will bring into their everyday “enjoy time”! I mean really, what can a computer do that a game console can’t do? Well, the question should be the other way around 😉
Internet: the next virtual drug lol
#3 Better believe it…the way internet is impacting the social network today (Facebook, Myspace, Twitter), you better be sure to protect highly personal information at all costs. I’ll agree at this point…if social networks do become that far advanced (which they will), security is going to be a major issue…especially for parents and their children cause obviously most parents don’t know a damn thing about computers…Internet wasn’t even an egg when they were born. Goodluck with the net-gen of children…best bet for parents: homeschool (so they won’t have a clue what a computer is)
#4 I guess that’s interesting although it’d be a complicated process for a person to create 1000 different profile shows for each one their friends and family members lol
Overall a good article. Good thoughts put into it…let me know if you want to debate about something else 😉
good points, good points
#4 though, the idea behind that would be more like collective groups of people like family, work, school, etc.
and yes they can be a waste of time, but if created correctly, it will become less of a distraction.
Security will come naturally as technology advances.
Why will it be replaced? Have any popular social networking sites actually gone out of style? myspace?
myspace is outdated, and not safe. It has grown old and outdated. Facebook will soon join Myspace. This is just a natural progression.
does it matter? it’s still widely used. myspace was never that “safe” and isn’t professional. not the point. facebook won’t join myspace anytime soon, since both are widely used.
Andrew is right: someone will make better…that’s the how the world has always worked in no matter what you can think of!
exactly. otherwise we would be using unix systems the size of my house. and the internet wouldn’t exist.