A recent post on io9.com asked what science fiction could tell us about the future of social media: http://io9.com/#!5781908. Annalee Newitz started the post by pointing out that, right now, you are reading a piece of social media, which can be passed around various social networks and thus be read by people who have never even heard of io9.com, or in this case Zena Shapter. The implication is that social media enables us to reach people we might not ordinarily be able to reach, and that this is changing the way we communicate.
The post then goes on to offer insight from various SF authors, all happy to imagine where this new and unique thing called social media might be taking us as a civilisation.
Now, whilst I agree that social media is changing the way we communicate, I don’t consider it as an entirely unique or new concept. I haven’t studied history since I was 18, evenso I can remember being 18 and the way we communicated back then, and I’m certain that the ability to communicate with unknown multitudes through decentralised, publically-accessible worldwide frameworks has been around for centuries…
Before the internet, anonymous deliberators could self-publish their personal views, news, opinions, gossip and ideas in media such as newsletters, pamphlets, flyers, gazettes, bulletins, brochures and booklets. They could then distribute those media on the street or to… libraries, where gaggles of strangers could read it, for free. In fact, believe it or not, but I was in Warringah Mall Library on Saturday and… they still can. There are noticeboards and shelves full of printed media, leaflets and notices, all in the one place, all written by a variety of, well, strangers.
There were ways...
And, get this, in libraries people can discuss what they read in real time, face to face! It’s similar to discussing things over the Internet, it’s just you do it by talking, not typing (ha, ha!). Talking might sound small-scale, but ideas with value have always found their way to global audiences by word-of-mouth.
...and means!
There are not so many about now, but there used to be political clubs and community halls, where strangers with alike ideologies could discuss ideas and events, without the shhh-ing of a librarian. Weekly church services used to be a great source of personal news too, in some communities they still are. And hey, whilst we’re looking back in time, look up ‘Ancient Greek Clubs’ in Wikipedia!
We have always had avatars; it’s just we once called them strangers with pseudonyms.
We have always had user-generated content and consumer-generated media; it’s just we once called it gossip, read it in the society pages or saw it active in political unrest.
We have always had a social hive mind; it’s just we once called it a social consciousness.
We have always had collective memory; it’s just we once stored our histories on microfiche, in archives, in memorised stories or by carving them into stone.
Yes, anyone can share information quickly and easily over the Internet. But strong voices, literate or not, have always been able to spread news and ideas to unknown masses and, in that, nothing has changed.
So if the reach, accessibility, usability and permanence of communication haven’t changed, what has? Immediacy?
Yes, the speed with which we can now do what we have always done has increased exponentially. But will this really affect us as a civilisation? Hasn’t physical isolation always been welcomed by some, fought by others? Same with encroaching corporeal dormancy? Surely such battles will continue on an individual level, irrespective of the challenges ahead?
No, I believe that the only real affect of this immediacy lies in the blurring between the future we once dreamed about and the realisation that it might be here after all…
For we can travel into the past now in the blink of an archived eye – and some might call that time travel – and we no longer have to journey to the library or our local political club to banter information or discuss ideas, we can do that from our keyboards – and some might call that teleportation…
Image from the movie "Jumper"
Talking . . . who would have thought. Lots of food for thought there on your blog. love the layout and graphics on your site Zena.
Food for thought… hmmm, I think somebody has food on their mind, what with the topless pineapples that inspired her own blog the other day!
I posted this on the Voyager site but wanted to share my thoughts here to 🙂
Zena, this is a great article! I’m tweeting about it right now 🙂
I remember Stephen King (boy his name is coming up a LOT) said in his book On Writing that authors, in this case novelists, and readers were in a kind of telepathic connection–the author’s thoughts are transferred to the reader, a true mind to mind link! Add to that the notions of instant communication over vast distances (like quantum theory’s ‘action at a distance’ and you have a model for ‘teleportation’ of thought. And we all know how long the novel has been around! (11th century Tale of Genji?) Great point to make–this is NOT NEW!)
Thank you, Zena!
Thanks Kim Falconer! Books as telepathic connections is a perfect tie-in to this subject! People in different countries, who have never met but whom have read the same book, can share knowledge of characters and place, of the ideas underpinning that book and a history of reading it… Yep, that’s telepathic connection, alright!
Hmmm, I wonder if the concept might make a good short story?
I’m going to have to re-read On Writing…