Social Media Endgame -- The BORG?

Will Social Media Connectivity be a precursor to a kind of Collective Human Entity? Will we each become like neurons in a Universal Mind?

When newspapers and other printed matter were, at one time, the prevalent source for 'late-breaking' information, some social scientists lamented the way readers/consumers of that information were being subjected to a limited point of view. Upon the arrival of broadcast media, such as Radio and TV, the 'Information Industry' expanded its domain and ability to dominate the attention of consumers. "Mass Media" was a term that described this juggernaut.

The potential for manipulation of information by corporate 'special interests' was understandably red flagged by pundits and educators. Noam Chomsky's term "Manufactured Consent" represented the way in which Corporate-influenced government could set the agenda and coral public opinion of voters and disenfranchise populations.

The landscape has changed dramatically upon the 'landing' of the 'internet' and, most recently, Social Media --as David Bowing alludes to in this 6-minute interview:




--Where at minute 5:01 he calls the internet "an Alien life-form".

As such, this 'life-form' has impacted the visual, music and performance arts in ways we would never have imagined just two decades ago.

And the impact is clearly being felt in the political arena with our "Tweeter-in-Chief" Donald Trump who uses Social Media in ways no politician has before. Arguably the aid he has gained from anonymous 'bots' to disrupt the information conduits with 'fake news' and disinformation campaigns has put us into a new era of erratic social protoplasm.

Could it be that the linking of millions of users' 'consciousness' through social media is only the beginning? That the early disruptive steps of collectivity will eventually lead to a new level of "Collective Consciousness" for humanity? Maybe, just as our brain has a collective of individual neurons that compose our human brain, Social Media is establishing connections between people that will serve as 'neurons' composing a kind of 'Universal Mind'.

In any case, I have one general question: What is the end-game of the 'Internet Alien Life-form"?

Maybe it would be instructive to watch episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation to study and prepare for the next stage of human evolution which is much like The BORG....

Another aspect of the possible outcomes of Social Media are described in more specific detail here:




Information scientist Jacques Vallée warns of, among other things, "A community of Big Brothers who know who we know" and how to exploit it.

Let's not be blindsided by the possible "impossible" end game.

One more reference link: This Comic on The Nib expresses similar thoughts to mine.

Illustration at top of page and story © O. Douglas Jennings. All rights reserved.