The Future Is Bright! Or Is It...Tumbling?

I was thinking about it, and I realized that the majority of this course told me the state of social media today. I was informed on how it has progressed over time seeing as the Internet is such a new technology, and how social media sites and establishments perform today. From Myspace, Facebook, Youtube, Blogging, Twitter, you name it, and we’ve covered it. This is the situation today.

But what’s the situation of tomorrow?

What do I want social media and networking to become in the future? How do I want it to change? These are the questions we could and should be asking ourselves. We are the future of the Internet and social media networking.

So I asked myself these questions, and I realized that I want my social media to be about me. Not everyone else out there. I don’t want to see a camera and think “Oh God, this picture’s gonna be on Facebook, I have to look good” when I’m out at a bar having fun. I don’t want to post videos of myself on Youtube because it will make me popular (although that would be sort of nice…). I want to post videos because I want to post videos. Because I want to share my talent, talk to people with similar interests, and get feedback on how I can improve.


Social media networking and Web 2.0 is all about everyone else. Facebook exists for you to post for other people. You create an image of yourself that may not necessarily be completely accurate. Your Facebook page almost exists to impress others.

Everything you put on Twitter is for other people to read. It’s not about you, it’s about projecting an image of your thoughts and insights. You need to be smart, witty, intelligent, otherwise who wants to follow you?

I want social media to be about us. About me. Not about who I want you to think I am. I guess Facebook has somewhat acknowledged this, where advertisements are specific to your account based on the interests and information you’ve entered into your profile. But I find that kind of creepy.


A step in the right direction, which I happened to stumble upon today, is a website called Tumblr.com. You make an account like you would on Facebook. But instead of projecting an image of yourself to other people, Tumblr allows you to hunt for things that you personally like and keep on this pseudo-blog. You can follow other people that seem to have the same interests as you, but Tumblr is for you and only you. You collect the things you love and it’s as simple as that. A virtual keep-sake box if you will.

So is this the future of social media? I really hope so. I know it’s called social media, but I’m over the whole popularity contest thing. That and I’m tired of always looking good in my Facebook photos.

It’s a work in progress, but here’s my new Tumblr Account in case you wanted an example: Phil's Tumblr Account

I encourage you to make your own!