Facebook 100 years from now

Yesterday I posted a photo on Facebook of my grandparents taken in 1917, 100 years ago. It got me thinking about what our future grandchildren will experience 100 years from now. Facebook and Google will record and preserve our life experiences for hundreds of years. Think about that.

I worked on my family genealogy over the holidays. My family landed in America in Beverly Massachusetts in 1628. There are no photos and very little text from that era, so getting a feel for the life and times of my ancestors is hard. Now imagine our future grandchildren being able to go back on our Facebook timeline and experience everything we did, everywhere we went, our views on current events, and the people we shared experiences with. Facebook captures the story of our lifetime and preserves it for future generations. Google search will allow anyone to find that history and relive the experience. That is truly amazing!

This generation will be the most photographed and documented generation in history. Smartphone cameras are snapping millions of photos and videos everyday, that are uploaded to Facebook, YouTube, and Google Photos. 100 years ago photos were fairly rare for poor rural Americans. Today nearly everyone has photos and videos.

Facebook and Google are amazing companies built to last for hundreds of years. They will be the historical record books of our lifetime and experiences for future generations. Wall Street analysts think about the next 90 days. Google and Facebook think about the next 100 years. We should too.