Social Networks of the Future?

Following is a question that popped up in my stream on Google Plus that I decided to answer. Thanks to Daniel Travolto at gpeep.com for letting me into his circle and asking the question.

what do you think will happen with G+ from a macro perspective? the world will be more connected? More ideas will be put into reality and faster? More talented people will find a way to make money of their art? what else? i am curious what you think

My response to this question was in part from the brilliant people I had the opportunity to record a This Week in Lotus podcast with....
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I think a lot of hard drives will fill up with data.

I don't know if the world will get more connected per say. In meat space we already all subscribe to a mass transit system that's got us in a pretty comfy spot in our galaxy, this connects us in a fundamental way that should never be forgotten.

I do think however the connections will get stronger and richer and more serendipitous if you will. We will be able to bring enough of our identity into a network so when a new connection is made it can grow quickly and without a lot of effort.

Now after saying nothing much in two paragraphs, I'll jump the shark and offer this meme to society in the hopes it catches fire, before others to start a fire to ignite social change, thank you Mohammed. I haven’t had time to read his story yet, but the general story and his name I have heard.

One could hope new richer conversations could take place and bubble up through the collective consciousness to transform society as a whole. Imagine the effect twitter and Facebook have had in the Arab Spring.

The internet's ability to carry the news of political turmoil in WI to Egypt, and despite the Egyptians struggle with more fundamental government issues than us, some people there bought pizza for protesters in Madison WI.

If the tools already built can help spark something like the Arab Spring, imagine our tools are where they could be two years from now. What could that level of technical advancement in society have done to facilitate not just the uprising, but the aftermath. The nation building, I hear that stuff is expensive if we try to do it for them.

Now flip that over to the USA, where our starting point isn't so bad. Our political body and physical society is fractured and operating under rules that are not exactly purpose built for this day and age. We don't need a revolution, we just need an honest debate.

Then the people who are struggling to come together to design new governments for the nations that did revolt, could follow our example and use the new tools to facilitate the new governmental structures they need to build.

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Is it time to get social and collaborate?

Can we build a smarter planet with our clouds and social networks?

I think the answer to both of these questions is yes.

Link: gpeep