Predictions about the Internet in 2020

The Pew Internet and American Life Project and Elon University have just released “The Future of the Internet II,” a report that extends predictions about the evolution of the internet into the year 2020. Drawing on responses from a sample of influential internet leaders, advocates and analysts, the paper’s predictions fall along the following themes:

*Continued serious erosion of individual privacy
*Improvement of virtual reality and problems associated with ever-more-compelling synthetic worlds
*Greater economic opportunities for those in developing nations
*Changes in languages and the rise of autonomous machines that operate beyond human control

You can read the full report here, as well as the 2005 report, "The Future of the  Internet," here.

Recognizing that the internet is comprised of its users and their creations, and thus who better to opine on its future, you can  share your own predictions on the internet's future to accompany the predictions set out in the study.  The Pew Center and Elon University have created a full predictions database for your visions and your reactions to the reports.  Post your own and read additional predictions at “Voices of the People.”