Friendships centered around e-mail were the focus of a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article on May 13 by reporter Tim Barker.

Entitled, "Internet enables faceless friendships," the article describes two women who met online and talk daily via e-mail -- but have never actually met in person. He quotes one of the women as saying: "In some ways, [our friendship] is probably deeper because of the anonymity."

But not everyone has a great experience socializing virtually, warns Barker, who interviewed Social Technologies' Simeon Spearman about the security risks associated with online-only friendships.

Generally speaking, those cyber friends should be treated with more skepticism than the ones you meet in the real world, said Simeon Spearman, an analyst for Social Technologies, a futurist research and consulting firm based in Washington. If you do find someone you hit it off with, it never hurts to invest a little effort into confirming your new friend's honesty. "Get them to talk to you on the phone or in video chat," Spearman said. "I wouldn't recommend hiring a private investigator or anything like that."

Read the entire article.

Image: by Chaparral Kendra (Flickr)

Love’s yearnings may be eternal, but how we act on them keeps changing. The future promises new ways to connect with that special someone—and we are likely to try every technology that comes to hand in this timeless pursuit. In honor of the holiday, my colleagues here at Social Technologies offer these 10 forecasts for love:

1. Location-based dating—GPS plus dating services plus mobile phones means love may be just around the corner. Combining services such as the massively popular Adultfriendfinder.com family of sites—which includes channels directed at everyone from seniors to Filipinos—with mobiles will allow users to be alerted when someone who matches their profile is within kissing distance.
2. The new infidelity—Or is it? When it comes to playing around in virtual worlds, society will work out the rules couple by couple for what constitutes acceptable behavior for a spouse or partner. What kinds of intimacy cross the line? Is it cheating if you develop a crush on a really cute orc in World of Warcraft?
3. Together apart—For partners who really can’t stand separation, new systems will signal what one’s beloved is up to and what kind of mood he is in. Maps could update in real time to show changing location. Smart systems could convey emotional states based on the changing color of an orb on your desk or the actions of a robotic pet.
4. Virtual therapy—Virtual spaces will increasingly be used for therapeutic treatment of people with relationship and sexual issues. They can provide a low-risk zone for patients to work out problems; for instance, people who are uncomfortable with the opposite sex could use online simulations to build their confidence, perhaps in dedicated therapeutic spaces.
5. Scientific pairings—Relationship matching systems such as those being used by some dating sites will go to the next level: a real, scientific compatibility test between potential mates administered before the courtship even begins. Genetic tests will be applied—and perhaps even more often misapplied—to identify the ideal mate.
6. Remote intimacy—Telerobotics will enable couples to have moments of intimacy via robots they control from another city, or the far side of the planet.
7. Love potions—Science will illuminate the reality behind “chemistry,” and enable its manipulation. The role of pheromones and even genetics in attraction will be increasingly clear. Someday, an unscrupulous lothario might be able to target his intended with a customized biochemical brew made specifically to attract her.
8. Pleasure bots—Sex is  an inevitable application of robotics. Artificially intelligent personal pleasure devices for women are already on the market. Technological improvements will be added to today’s rudimentary sex dolls as fast as affordability allows.
9. Brain sex—Why not cut out the “middle man”—the body? A lot of sex occurs in the brain, and future neurodevices may make it possible to induce a variety of experiences at will. A whole new level of remote or virtual interactions would be possible.
10. People will be people—Many people will ignore the previous nine developments and keep doing things just has we’ve done them for that last 100,000 years or so. With nearly 7 billion of us, and counting, the system seems to be working pretty well.

Image: Sister72 (Flickr)

Your friends seem to have everything, or are steering clear of accumulating more "stuff," so what do you buy them this holiday season?

In a December 14 article for The Washington Post Express, reporter Kris Coronado suggested Washingtonians tap into a new trend of buying experiential gifts. "Whether it's climbing Machu Picchu or an IOU for a trip to the zoo, gifts one does instead of throws in the back of a closet are becoming a favorite option of buyers," she wrote in her article, "Experiential Gifts Create a Can-Do Spirit".

For insight into the trend, Coronado turned to Social Technologies' Director of Programs Chris Carbone:

The last five years have seen a definite shift toward such gifts, says Chris Carbone of Social Technologies, a D.C.-based firm that tracks consumer trends. "We have enough spin in politics and in reality TV shows that turn out to be staged," he explains. "In our own lives, we're looking for something more real and genuine. Experiences are as real as it gets."

What are some of the best picks? Coronado suggested a handful of ideas, including steel drum lessons, home hennas, and zipline tours.

What do you think? Post your comments about some of the best experiential gifts you are giving this holiday season.

Image: welsh boy (Flickr)

Image: Rachael Voorhees (Flickr)One of the big ideas to arise in recent years from the disintermediary effects of the Internet is crowdsourcing--the idea that as technology connects us, information requests and other work can be distributed to a wide range of people, all of whom can contribute to completing the task. The benefit of crowdsourcing is that it allows the user access to a wider array of knowledge and talent than he possesses...when it works.

But just like the aphorism that a chain is only as strong as the weakest link, crowdsourcing is only as valuable as the resources available, and vulnerable to misdirection. And, let’s face it, few believe that mobs make the smartest decisions.

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College students are constantly connected. Image: Nic McPhee (Flickr) I recently spoke with a reporter about how technology has changed the lives of college students over the past fifteen years. As a recent college grad, I knew about the present, but I needed something with which to compare my own experience, so I asked my Gen X and Baby Boomer colleagues. A lively email discussion ensued and it was interesting to see what my colleagues had to say:

• There was the obvious: as little as 15 years ago, mobile phones, Internet access, and laptops were rare, and therefore phenomena such as social networking sites, instant messaging services, and text messages—which college students today can't live without—didn’t exist.
• The more subtle: technology has changed the way information is conveyed and how relationships are formed and maintained. Back in the day, college students went to dining centers and the quad to make friends. It seems as though college students were a lot more friendly too; I can't imagine this happening on the campus of my alma mater, George Washington. Also, information about who was dating whom was spread through word of mouth, not text messages or Facebook.
• Tech was communal: When technologies were first developed (and much more expensive), they weren't individually owned, but shared: telephones, computers, printers, boom boxes, etc. were communally owned by students, or the university itself. Now a college student owns their own tech devices: mobile phones, laptops, iPods, etc., all of which make them more mobile and independent of those around them. In decades past, it seems like the lack of individual tech devices fostered a stronger sense of community.
• Nerds were nerds: And, for some, perhaps a bit of nostaligia for a time when everyone at college knew the pecking order: "Dorks were dorks. Now, they can be online celebrities and geniuses" (a quote from one of my 30-something colleagues).

So after this discussion, the question begs to be asked: what about the future?

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By Andy Hines, Director of Custom Projects

Part 5 of a 5-part series on The Future of Happiness

Our study on the Future of Happiness found that 12-to-24 year olds are pursuing four principal pathways to happiness. The final path can be called “Virtual Community” — they are integrating the online and virtual worlds seamlessly into their pursuit of happiness.

It is useful to think of youths' relationship with technology as a native language: unlike most Americans, they have grown up with it. For older folks like me, technology is typically a second language. It can be learned, but the relationship is never as quite as comfortable. In fact, when we suggest to some of our clients that youth are total comfortable being immersed with technology, they almost feel bad for them. “Poor kids, all alone one with their technology,” they muse. Au contraire! Participating in social networking and virtual worlds is quite natural for these youth, and a great source of happiness.

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