The future of the internet is one that is really in flux at this point. A future that is up for grabs to both the most influential and ambitious of influencers. But there seems to be some agreement in the way that the internet will affect our lives; fundamentally from the bottom up.
The internet has been changing our lives for the past 15 years, making commerce, relationships and especially the sharing of information, well, easier. This change started from the ground up, not from the top down, which makes it similar to many revolutions. The people, not their masters, began this seismic change in society.
But how can someone be so confident that this trend will remain consistent throughout the development of the web?
The certainty that I bring is that, as long as the internet remains a place where the average person has the mobility to roam freely from one website to the next, than the web will be geared towards this functionality. Without this paradigm, this borderless web, the internet will become an intranet, this changing not only the name, but the justification for it’s existence.
There are many issues that threaten the borderless internet. These would include Net Neutrality, profit models, centralized social networking and others. The commonality between these issues is the creation of very concrete borders or boundaries that prevent the flowing of both users and content. These borders are artificial and therefore adjustable by those who govern them, making the presence of these borders subject to the influence of certain motivating elements; money, access and control.
Despite the seriousness of these threats to a ground-up and open web, there are also encouraging signs that the modern internet is growing in its ability to resist these changes. As the internet continues to generate a ground swell away from the physical towards the digital the power of the user and the unique individual developer will remain strong.
It is important to remember that these changes are not innately a bad thing, in fact there will most definitely be an element of positivity from these influences. Not all change is wrong or even threatening therefore the power of the issues that threaten the open internet remains undercut by the potential for positive influence.
Ultimately, the future of the internet boils down to how the individual will be allowed to access and design the internet; interface. It is my assumption that until the internet becomes as mature a medium that it ultimately will, the value of the individual will remain high.
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