by Elio Navarro
ments, and promote education through these networks. Online social networks are coming to life at an exponential rate with infinite (and unknown) potential.
These networks in the next few years also will start to incorporate 3-D technology and real-time video conferencing to further enrich the online interaction between people.
The potential impact of social networking on the disability community is obvious and epic. Never in the history of mankind has it been easier for people with disabilities to be able to integrate and interact with others in real time and in a common space.
However, very few social networks currently exist for the disability community, especially “all-inclusive” networks that cross multiple disabilities and leverage the latest in Internet technology. So, in early 2007 I launched a beta version of a very advanced social networking site, www. xable.com.
The site is specifically designed to empower and connect people with disabilities by uniting them into a single, global online network with features such
as personal spaces, media sharing, clubs, blogs, forums, classifieds, auctions, real estate postings and job postings (some of these functions will be available in mid to late 2007). Many more social networks designed for the disability community will surely emerge over the years, further empowering our ability to connect for social, commercial and other purposes.
It’s exciting to know that over the next couple of years I’ll be able instantly to find, connect to and interact with people who share my disability, as well as to learn about their experiences and share my own interactively.
As one of the first users of Prodigy and America Online
(AOL), I was a pioneer on the Internet.
In the early 1990s, I was writing e-mails to my friends, participating in chat rooms and instant messaging conver- Elio Navarro sations, browsing the World Wide Web, and downloading all kinds of cool stuff in the comfort of my own living room.
Moreover, the timing couldn’t have been better, because I had just undergone surgery to correct scoliosis (brought on by my spinal muscular atrophy).
As influential as the Internet has already been to me and to millions of people with and without disabilities, we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg. Here’s my sneak peak of what to expect over the next decade.
The power of knowledge and information is one of the foundations of the Internet. You can already browse libraries of digital books and get information on just about anything with only a couple of clicks and keystrokes.
However, countless people with disabilities have given up on their dreams of attending their favorite colleges, because they knew it would be a logistical mess and tremendous expense. The usual outcome is set-
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“I earned my degree without relocating and was still able to participate in class discussions!”
As people have seen with the popularity of Web sites such as MySpace or Friendster, the power of online “social networks” is tremendous. Instead of communicating through forums and chats, people now want to create their own online presence, build intricate online networks, share photos, videos, blogs and other creative content, and then publish and promote this content.
People also want to conduct commerce, initiate social or political move-
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