While i’m out with my Oompa-Loompa posse, you could be working on the next presidential speech, entering into a world of fame and fortune, or changing the world!  Well… not really, but you can pretend.

It’s no secret by now, that the Internet has changed the way we interact with the world around us – without leaving our homes, we can shop and talk to people around the world, educate and entertain ourselves, and do many other things. From my perspective, one of the most powerful aspects of the Internet is that it allows us to interact with the world, and express ourselves, in completely new ways. In the past, the average person was only a media consumer, but increasingly the Internet platform provides opportunities to become a part of the media itself; this provides participants with a more interactive and engaging experience.

A number of years ago, when the Internet was still in its mainstream infancy, I remember being linked by a friend to a news clipping involving me. It looked something like this and at first glance was pretty realistic, although relatively transparent after further investigation. However, the fact that it was obviously fake did not detract from the fun, and these easy to create, fake-clippings, made numerous rounds around the Web. This was the first time in my memory when a static Internet was starting to transform into a dynamic, customizable, and entirely different creature.

Since then, a lot has happened in the relam of customizable media. Hallmark e-cards came into existence, where people could send personalized messages and media to friends and family. Websites now allow you to customize user interfaces to optimize your browsing experience, as well as choose how you receive or distribute content. Virtual worlds like Habbo Hotel, Second Life, and World of Warcraft popped up right, left, and center, where you could now create digital avatars of yourself or some fantastical creation. These are just a few examples of a Web that has been transforming to incorporate demand for tailored media consumption, and these examples paint a simple picture for the future of consumer engagement…

The fake news clippings were the first example of this customization, but they involved simple text media. As you can see from my Oompa Loompa picture, created using faceinhole.com (and which, according to Alexa, is growing impressively), the same can now be done for pictures. And as JibJab demonstrates impressively, the same can be done for video as well, right down to the animation of the face. The technology is still developing, but it is not unrealistic to believe that one day, media will be module-like and allow hot-swapping of components, from the protagonist’s appearance to the environmental settings themselves, with a highly detailed level of realism.

Plastic surgery has come to media…and advertising and entertainment is about to become more interesting by far. Doritos ran a contest for the 2008 Superbowl where participants submitted their own Doritos commercials and the top submission would run during the Superbowl – it was a huge success, with top favourites being viewed millions of times on YouTube, generating huge publicity for the company. By now, this example is no longer ‘news,’ but for example’s sake, now imagine that the competition allowed you to go to the website and “live” the advertisement by being in the commercial itself. Take another step, and what if the commercial was no longer just about you? What if you could upload your image, send the link to a friend who did the same, and so forth, until the hypothetical commercial about your friends actually had the realistic faces of all your friends! Movies, television, commercials … just use your imagination.

Companies can engage their customers by providing welcome opportunities for entertainment and involvement rather than simply pushing a message – a participant will absorb the message when interested. This idea is not entirely ‘new’ but the tools are, and I look forward to seeing what the future holds.

Thoughts about other applications? Concerns about the implications? Let me know what you think!