Social Networks, and creating collectives.

Although, not 100% instantaneous, due to web traffic, bandwidth, etc, social networks have done the opposite of what, pundits claimed the internet is doing. Rather than separate society, and make individuals feel removed from society, the internet via social networks has created a place, where the most socially inept of us, can fit in, and feel like part of a group. All one need do, is look at Yahoo's egroups, or google's groups, and you will see that, there is a group for virtually any and every segment in our society. From Cat and Dog lover, to Computer nerds and Hackers, to sports fans, and fans of all manner of movies, from Twighlight to Star Wars & Star Trek. These social networks, go far beyond even this level of collectivity. Social networks, like Facebook allow friends, from high school, college, from work, and allows family members to stay in contact, across town, across the country, and across the planet. With web enabled cell phones, this connectivity occurs practicality 24/7 365 days a year.

Refering back to Star Trek, think back to the Personal Access Display Device or PADDs, we first saw the on, the Original Star Trek, as the big black wedge, the yeoman's carried around. Its recognized, that they were an electronic device with a electronic stylus. The PADD's got an update, with the Next Generation, and recived a touch screen. During that short period of time, we began seeing some devices on the market, from Apple's Newton, to Palm's Pilot, more recently, we have seen, the iPod and iTouch. Now, a whole new line of smart phones, that are open source are pushing cellular technology further. The Droid X is a 1Ghz phone, and the up coming
Droid Plus, is a 1.3 Ghz phone. I'm talking processor speed here, not transmission frequency. I am sure, you will soon find phones with 32, 64, and even 128 Giga Byes of internal Ram, and even more external Ram. Smart phones are becoming like mini laptops. There is literally, an app for everything, from editing video and photos, to timing your eggs, lol. With their touch screens, these devices, are every bit as powerful, as what was shown on Star Trek, add a chip for Satellite communications, and you have a real ship to planet communicator, lol.

Advance technology just a decade, and I can see, where people will have completely instantaneous, super high bandwidth access, to our social networks. If someone were to develop, a neural interface that allowed users to interface with each others consciousness, in a sort of social network micro collective of a few hundred, or few thousand users, eventually, it could lead to something on the scale of the Borg. The question is, should we, or should we not? We probably would not become the Borg of Star Trek, we would probably become a true collective, more like the New Collective on Star Trek Voyager, where individuals could plug in, and unplug at will.