These are some great observations. Your last statement particularly struck a point: “What could be a tool for a gigantic common pool of information is, in a way, a trail that leads each of us back to our individual caves to read the paintings on the wall.” For example, I have heard many people comment on the fact that though Internet mediums such as Facebook and Twitter are social networks, they in essence, promote antisocialism. Emails discourage people from talking to others about personal business. And sites such as Second Life, create an online fantasy for people that causing an identity crisis. I have always felt that just as there are two sides to a coin, as you have pointed out in your post, there are also two sides to a wonderful invention such as the Internet. How far is too far? And where do we learn to draw the line if things get out of hand?

I agree with your point that the Web is a culture of openness where anyone can find anything they want, yet so many of us only scratch the surface by going for narrow kinds of information that interest us personally. It is a known fact that everyone likes to talk about themselves, are interested in what affects them personally. Also, I think that we each have a need to feel a sense of belonging to a group, having friends. With the internet making it possible for us to only be concerned with our own interests, won’t we become out of touch with the rest of the world? I think that by using these sites, we will become more and more isolated and lonely as we will one day not even need to leave the house. You can have food delivered, you can work from home, you can read the news, you can go to school, and you don’t ever have to socialize with anyone if you choose not to. I hope we don’t ever come to accept such a depressing lifestyle, we need each other whether we want to admit it or not.

Although I agree that predicting the future of media is nebulous, I think it’s a safe assumption that the personalization of the news media is a trend that will stick around for a while. Just as satellite providers have found success with niche programming, news sites are likely to follow suit; after all, it comes down to profits and more site visitors mean more advertising dollars. But while choosing to personalize entertainment options seems benign enough, I’m not so sure that allowing users to personalize their news intake is a good idea. What will happen when news consumers are only being fed stories that they want to hear and ignoring all others? I guess at that point, we really will be heading into our individual caves.

This post describes a concept outlined in a 17-year old book: a publication built around individual users’ habits, interests, tastes, hobbies, and lifestyles.” I have that publication – but it isn’t a newspaper. It’s Twitter. A lot of people who don’t use Twitter assume it’s a place for teenagers to LOL with each other or for celebrity stalkers to find out what Kim Kardashian ate for dinner. But for me, it’s a custom news feed. I rarely post anything or respond to anyone on Twitter. Instead, I use it as a custom feed. I follow people and information sources selectively, choosing what’s important to me: IndyCar racing news, grammar tips, recipe ideas and road construction along my commute. It even works like a “Pandora for news” because it suggests other accounts I may want to follow. Until a single publication can deliver that type of personalization, it’s a waste of my time because so much of it isn’t relevant to me. Traditional media is a part of my world – but only if they’re posting on Twitter.

Are people ever satisfied with what is offered to them? Trove is a great example of how Web 2.0 is catering to a generation of spoon-fed consumers who have come to expect customized news, information and advertising delivered to their doorstep—errr, I mean their iPhone or iPad.

The good news for media and advertising messengers is that technology, specifically Web 2.0, is opening up new worlds of communication and delivery of its product, but the bad news is these cutting-edge methods are killing the traditional forms of distribution of their product. Customized Internet advertising, Pay-Per-View television, and multi-media newspaper Web sites are just a few examples of how information delivery is changing.

From the opening sentence, this article grabbed my attention because it is astonishing to think of what the media is going to be like in the future. I think f what it might have been like 30 years ago when the internet was first being started and about if people were even thinking of a possibility of a social media online, or if that had ever crossed their minds. To think of where we have come since then, and where we are going now is just truly remarkable. It still astounds me to think that I can talk to someone through video with my cell phone, when this was “science fiction” just not that long ago.

The future is not what it used to be, Colin. And sometimes it just looks downright scary when it comes to loss of privacy. It’s important to remember that humans still have control over the machines, though, and can use them for good as well as for bad.