I read a lot of articles and blogs about social media and where it’s been, where it is, and where it’s going. Most of the newsletters I subscribe to are written by marketing and advertising professionals, so naturally they are all talking about how it’s going to be monetized and analyzed. But, what I’m not reading is where they think the next innovation will be on the users end. Facebook has permeated our everyday lives much like email did in the late 90’s. And more and more social sites are interacting with each other and becoming a part of the websites we interact with everyday.

I see the next evolution of Online Social Interaction (OSI) as a layer on top of what we now call web2.0. The first clues to this happening are already visible with Facebook Connect and Google Friend Connect. Each has its benefits. Facebook has a firm grasp on our everyday OSI. Users can easily login, share content, and engage with your website. Google Friend Connect, in my opinion, takes it a step further with the addition of a social bar and more gadgets than Facebook offers. Google states that 9 million sites currently use it, that there are 500 million users, and there are 2 new users every second. But my sense is that it is not as well adopted as Facebook however, this where I see the future of OSI heading.

With more and more people signing up and interacting with social media everyday there will be a need to streamline this interaction. I see an ever-present layer over the top of our browsing experience. Much like what Google is trying to accomplish. But why end there. Can it be part of our operating system? Can Facebook introduce a browser? Who knows, but I hope it’s easy. Maybe Apple will tackle this challenge and incorporate it into their OS, iPhone, and iPad.

Posted: February 10th, 2010 under socialmedia.
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