The 21st Century Truman Show

Andy Warhol once said “in the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” We look at people like Jon Gosselin and are reminded that, sadly, Warhol’s prediction shows no signs of slowing down. To be a star in this 21st century, creating and updating one’s public life is only the beginning. Social sites like Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and any (compulsive) medium of your choice started us down the rabbit hole, but there’s more around the corner. About to up the ante of this (fame) game are an onslaught of new websites, features and gadgets that offer to broadcast our lives in real time.

Google Latitude: a GPS of sorts that allows obsessive lovers/ inseparable friends to not only locate each other, but get precise directions to boot (luckily these relationships have to be mutual). Have it to-go on your phone, or monitor like a switchboard on your home computer.

Foursquare: Heralded as the new Twitter, with a city guide on GPS twist. It allows users to post updates via cellphones every time they “check in” to a restaurant or bar. Frequency of usage is proportionally rewarded with “points”, “badges”, etc. that eventually translate into actual freebies from benefited establishments – motivation and addiction concurrently deepens…

With Twitter officially licensing its tweet streams from all public users (practically everyone) to both Google and Microsoft to bolster their search efforts, you can literally create your own official biography online, as fast as your thumbs can go.

And those are only the mobile/online hybrid services! SenseCam, a new neckline camera developed by Microsoft, aims to document your life automatically every 30 seconds. A pedometer called Fitbit monitors AND wirelessly updates your exercise/sleeping patterns to turn your health achievements (or failures), into a global shared endeavor.

If the real time wave of applications and devices could talk, they’d say “privacy ain’t got nothing on me.”

Read full story {CNN}