Week #2 - The Not Too Distant Future of Social Media

In the past decade, social networking has rapidly taken over our lives. I remember my first encounter with Facebook when I was 16; I had no idea that I was actually taking my first few steps into the future.

Now at 21, just five years after I signed up for my Facebook account, my life pretty much revolves around social networking. Mobile data on my phone is essential, I need to be connected 24/7. My Internet-abled smartphone is my gateway to the world. Personally, Twitter is my favourite social network. These days, news is already passé by the time you pick up your morning newspaper. With Twitter, I don't have to worry about be ill-informed, I don't even have to look for news, it comes to me. Sometimes, I even get to repurpose news to my friends and start a discuss from there.

My pal Luke & I discussing Star Wars VII news -
Not only can we receive news, we can also share it along with our thoughts.

We may think that we already know all there is to know about social networking and its functions, but I believe that this is just the beginning. What will the landscape of social media look like in the future? I believe that the human population has already taken its first few steps into that future.

As a huge science fiction fan, I don't have to spend too much time imagining what the future of social media will be. One of my favourite movies of all time is Steven Spielberg's Artificial Intelligence. The movie depicts a world where robotic A.I.s called Mechas walk among the human race. No, I'm not saying that Twitter and Instagram will evolve into our robot friends (what would be the point of that?). The future that I firmly believe in is that artificial intelligence will be implanted into social media. The fact of the matter is, it's already happening. Sites like YouTube actually learns your likes and dislikes in order to recommend videos to you. It sounds simple, but can you imagine what that can evolve to? 

The future of Social Media?
Courtesy of Warner Bros Studios

Let's imagine a scenario: Say your boyfriend just proposed to you. Let's be honest, what's the first thing you do? No, you won't call your parents, not in this day and age. Instead, you'll Instagram a picture of you new engagement bling with the hashtags #imengaged #mynewring #soblingitsblindingme.

As your friends are learning of your engagement (and liking your picture), your A.I. program goes to work. In the matter of minutes you will receive notifications from your A.I., recommending the best days for you to get married, possible locations to hold your reception, and even selecting the best wedding blogs for you to reference and get ideas from.

That's not all. You could program your A.I. to plan the wedding for you. After all, it knows your tastes better than any wedding planner would. All you have to do is wait for it to notify you when it has made the appropriate arrangements.
You won't have to be Tony Stark to have a Jarvis.

Social media is already a powerful tool. What will happen once we make it intelligent as well?