Hi everyone! While I was surfing the web, I came across this picture. It is an artist’s representation of the current Social Media. However, a thought struck me: Is this the world of tomorrow? For example, there is a building for the bookmarking site Delicious, this could very easily become a reality, with buildings all over the world. People could go into the buildings, make an account (maybe a card like a library?), and recommend places around the world for people to visit or have a look at. They would also be able to look at places and topics other users of the service have recommended. Even if the place user they want to view is on the other side of the world (or even the other side of the city) the user would simply have to log in with their card to a computer and check any of the newly recommended places. Users could also print their recommendations out and give them physically to their friends who may not be members of the service.
Further along the landscape there is the Skype truck. I do think that it would be a building rather than a truck. Anyway, this could be used to make video calls, like the current computer based service, to other members of the service. All that would be needed is a handheld device (similar to a pager) that all users would be carrying around with them that would instantly notify them (text based) if someone was trying to contact their unique number. The user would then go to their nearest Skype building and use their unique number to ‘log in’ to a booth. They would then be able to access all their contacts, missed calls, current calls and also call other people whether they’re on their contact list or not, just like a normal phone. The main advantage would be that users would now be able to see the people they were talking to, allowing better communication between people. For example, if someone was talking about how good their new iPod was, they would also be able to show them the iPod and take the person they were talking to through it.
Furthermore, the Google building would be great if anyone wanted any information fast. They’d simply go into it, and, like an Apple store, as a clerk at the counter a question. This clerk would then check any of the files and, in seconds, would come up with an answer. If it wasn’t the answer required, then the clerk would search again. Did I forget the mention that the clerks were probably robots? Well, the clerks are probably robots. This would make the search more efficient allowing the clerk to index their own memory, making it far quicker for everything to take place.
Finally, the YouTube building would be ideal for anything vlog. A user would simply go in, and go to one of the cameras. The whole building would really be more of a skyscraper, probably Empire State Building size, to be able to accommodate all of the ongoing users and video recording. The main building would probably have a few floors dedicated to video editing. This would be great for vloggers as they would be able to request that one of the staff edit their video for them, cutting out anything they don’t want to see. However, if the user didn’t want staff to do it, they’d be able to use whatever software available for them to edit their video. This software would be anything from novice software like windows movie maker, to professional software used in professional movies. I would have thought there’d be a few other floors filled with computers, with both microphones and webcams connected allowing users to make a screen cast. The computers would also be fitted with the video editing software on the other floors, it’s just that these computers would be used for screen casts ONLY to increase the amount of people editing at any one time. Users would also be able to ‘log in’ to any of the computers (will be loads on every floor, but these will be used only for the following purpose) and check if any of their friends have made a new video. They would also be able to ‘subscribe’ to someone and get notified (on the same pager device used with Skype) when they make a new video.
As you can see the possibilities of what would be in this Social Networking city are limitless. I have mentioned only a handful of things shown in the image. I now have just one question for you all: Will the world actually turn into, or a version of, this city? Discuss in the comments if you will.
In other news: As mentioned in the previous entry, the next video I make will be about the new features in Safari 4. I may also make a few articles before then as I don’t have much time for videos at the moment. I will, however, get more time in the not too distant future.
For now,
Yours,
Ratscallion
