If you’re reading this post right now, you’ve heard of Web 2.0, which describes the second-generation of Web-based services that emphasize online collaboration and sharing among users.  Web 2.0 tools include social networking sites, wikis, podcasts, and, of course, blogs.  In the realm where Web 2.0 and career counseling intersect, there has been much discussion about the impact of social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook on twenty-somethings just entering the business world.  “Watch what you put in your profile,” warn experts.  “Because HR people and hiring managers will look at it, and if they see scandalous content, they won’t give you a job.”

In the context of what’s now being dubbed Web 3.0, though, these arguments about MySpace profiles seem so 2006. What’s Web 3.0, you ask?  This month’s OMMA Magazine defines it the place where big media and marketing assets blend seamlessly with people's desire for both self-expression and forging connections. The line between professional and amateur content is blurring, and more importantly, media properties and personal lives are mingling in new ways.

As we invest more time online, and expose more intimate parts of ourselves while doing so, powerful marketing engines will enable fully immersive virtual experiences, where the user is both audience and maker of media.  Beyond the currently popular simulated world, Second Life, major media properties like MTV's "The Hills" and Showtime's "L Word" are already enticing fans to enter as 3D avatars, interact with cast members, and even build their own homes.

You can imagine where this is going.  In the world of Web 3.0, you may forge a parallel identity online that visits Tocana Island (Tuscany in Second Life), buys only the coolest Nike sneakers, and sip martinis at the premier party for a new TV series.  But what, if any, implications will your online double’s behavior have on your real-world career?  Will we be held responsible for actions taken in the virtual world, just as we now are for content we put in our MySpace profiles?  If an HR exec sees “you” dancing on the bar at a virtual club, wearing a salacious virtual getup, will it be either legal or moral for her to toss your resume?  

Fascinating stuff, isn’t it?