I’m not one for making predictions about what life will be like online in the near future. It’s tough. Things change all the time. However, I suspect a new trend is going to emerge.

MySpace and Facebook been dominating the social network scene (at least in North America) for the last several years. The knock on MySpace is it’s full of spam and the profiles can seem out of control. The knock on Facebook is that it’s a walled garden.

So what’s happening now? Google has created a platform with basic standards so that anyone can “partner” with anyone (OpenSocial). You want your content inside someone else’s network (like the Facebook applications), Google has the baseline for sharing. Google has also taken it’s applications and made them available for offline use (Gears and IMAP).

And now both Yahoo and Google are upping the ante with their email systems. And the thought is that email will become the new hub for social networking — that the walls will keep coming down and people will have a better experience out of their inbox.

Here’s a bit of reading for you (where I’m getting some of these thoughts):

• Social networks of the future could be email based
• Facebook News Feed Fatigue (warning: the article is great, the video is a bit crass)
• Turn Gmail (or any E-mail Account) Into a Social Network Hub
• Fuser: Manage All Your Email and Social Networking Messages in One Place

So what do I conclude from all of this? I think that all the fun Web 2.0 sites and social networks will continue to evolve and more integration will happen. There is an advantage to a walled garden like Facebook, but I suspect that these gardens are going to get smaller and more niche-oriented. Everyone else will manage their social network through an inbox or personal portal page (like iGoogle).

If this happens, how will it play out for us in ministry? We have the opportunity to be better connected. Actually, we may be connected to less people, but the quality of those connections will increase. We can offer content and enter into other networks. It’s permission-based marketing because individuals will choose what they want and who they want in their network. RSS readers and email Inboxes will be the personal hubs (and they may be combined).

But the thing is to remember is that it’s not so much about the technicals or mechanics of what the future holds for online interaction. It’s always been about, and always will be about, communicating with the people you want to reach in the ways that they will understand and relate to the message. Conversations will always be the context for ministry. The form and format of that context will continually evolve, but the principles of conversation will not.