As “sharing” takes a new meaning and definition, many of us have no idea what the future holds for us.

The tech industry is enthusiastic of the current trends. And rightly so. As early adopters and late followers embrace various technologies, it gives rise to new opportunities. With the advent of various sharing technologies, it is obvious that your online identities are being created. Many of us know that this is primarily directed to sell targeted ads. But it goes beyond ads.

It is also controlling how we choose to live our lives.

Current Example: Job Search

Having a good resume, a good set of skills and references to back your work was enough early on. Now, you have to have an online presence on LinkedIn. Might not be true for all jobs but most of them in the current age. The product is a recruiter’s paradise. The early adopters joined the bandwagon to give it momentum. Now it has snowballed to a must-have from a nice-to-have. The recruiters now encourage you to have the profile online. They state not having one makes you look old school. So those folks (primarily non-tech ones), who are great at their work, but poor at (or did not care about) their online marketing/networking skills, now have to reluctantly join the medium. And make their data public.

Future possibility: Health insurance

Wearable is the new mobile. Let’s name a few players who are already in this field:

Fitbit (www.fitbit.com) : Helps track daily activities, calories burned, sleep & weight.

Mimo (www.mimobaby.com) : Non-contact machine washable sensors that measures baby’s respiration and can monitor skin temperature, body position and activity level.

While this is excellent advancement of science and technology, the question is how far along are we before this data is used by others in the health industry — more importantly the health insurance companies.

It is very easy to visualize a few years from now, when all of us would be expected to carry some kind of a device that monitors our health to get better health insurance. Very similar to how progressive uses the snapshot device to provide better auto insurance. Excited early adopters would instantly embrace it, fueling the idea. Reluctant followers will eventually have to follow suit.

Once you wear it, you will be forever chained. Making you a slave to your own data.