For a few years I’ve made a joke when asked what I think will succeed the so-called Web 2.0 revolution – that which is basically defined as an interactive, sharing (sometimes overly so) period of time online.  With popular social networks, photo sharing sites, blogs and microblogging services like Twitter, it’s become common place for many folks to share their deepest and all-too-often shallow thoughts online for anyone to read.

If in a 2.0 world we’re sharing a lot (some good, some not so good – doesn’t matter), I’ve predicted with a laugh that in a 3.0 world we’ll realize we’ve shared too much and will go back to our own corners and keep this stuff to ourselves.

Well, the first sign that I might have been right may have appeared.

The New Oxford American Dictionary has announced that the word of the year is “unfriend” – or defined as “to remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site such as Facebook.”

I’ve recently experienced this phenomenon when my girlfriend from high school unfriended me and more recently when a close colleague did so as well.  Perhaps I shared something too personal online and that prompted them to disconnect our electronic connection.  Perhaps they wanted to post something online they didn’t want me to see. Perhaps like I’ve done recently, realized that some people I’ve friended are not actually “friends.”

Whichever the case, unfriending has begun and perhaps I was partially correct – it may not be time that we keep our inner thoughts and pictures to ourselves, but rather be more selective in who we share them with.

In either case, I hope we stay friends

Read more about our authors.  Brian is the CEO and Co-Founder of TargetX. Over twenty years ago, he started his career in admissions at a small, liberal arts college. He was a constant thorn in the admission director’s side – always wanting to try new ideas and technology. He took his energy (and vast collection of suspenders – it was the early 90′s) to lead the graduate and adult enrollment and marketing at a national university. In this leadership position, he helped differentiate his employer in one of the most crowded higher education marketplaces in the country and pioneered the use of the Internet in recruitment marketing. His passion sparked the genesis of TargetX, the company he has served for over 14 years as its co-founder and CEO. Along the way he’s earned his master’s degree in education at the University of Pennsylvania and built TargetX into a multi-million dollar technology and consulting firm serving over 450 colleges and universities. Brian is now a voice of change in an industry at its tipping point, helping colleges who have the gumption to embrace more effective recruiting techniques as traditional methods wither away. He is also the author of “Overthrowing Dead Culture: A Vision to Change the World of College Recruiting” available on Amazon.com and BN.com.