6/5/2008
Resistance to Blogs Is Futile
Let’s talk about the future of blogging in the context of science fiction.
Of Blogs and the Borg I Sing
Star Trek: The Next Generation was a mind bending television series, way ahead of its time. The most terrifying and prophetic creation in all of Next Generation-dom is the Borg.
The Borg is an alien race characterized by collective consciousness gone wild –
The Borg are depicted as an amalgam of cybernetically enhanced humanoid drones of multiple species, organized as an inter-connected collective with a hive mind, inhabiting a vast region of space with many planets and ships, and sophisticated technology. They operate towards one single-minded purpose: to add the biological and technological distinctiveness of other species to their own, in pursuit of perfection. This is achieved through forced assimilation, a process which transforms individuals and technology into Borg, enhancing individuals by adding synthetic components. (from Wikipedia)
The most terrifying aspect of the Borg is their relentlessness. From the Enterprise’s first encounter on, they are a merciless juggernaut, utterly unstoppable. You cannot negotiate with the Borg. You cannot distract them. There is the Borg, and there is everything else. The Borg are hell bent on absorbing species until there is no more “everything else” left. Resistance is futile.
Sinister overtones aside, anyone can see similarities between the Borg and the evolution of blogs and other forms of interactive online communication. Is all this interconnectivity going to create a better world — or a Borg world?
Three Questions Worth Pondering
- Are we evolving into two species, one interconnected on the Web, the other offline? I see this every day in miniature, as some businesses embrace business blogs and others resist, sometimes fearfully, sometimes combatively.
- Will these two species come into conflict? Will the connected collective, or “Connective”, apply pressure to the unconnected, forcing them gently or not so gently to connect? Sound crazy? A national identification card program is on the table now. Large companies such as airlines are practically forcing customers to the internet for service support.
- Will the blogosphere remain a vast collection of independent voices, or will it evolve into something more Borg-like and diabolical, a single-minded consciousness led by powerful thought leaders who shape and direct the hive? Certainly today, the connected gravitate to and emulate influential bloggers. Thankfully these thought leaders are in the main well intended. But what if a politician with the charisma of JFK and the depravity of Hitler were to harness the full power of the Connective?
They Just Don’t Get It!
As one who straddles the fence between the connected world and the unconnected world, I feel the tension. Reading The Cluetrain Manifesto or listening to some of the more spirited new media evangelists, we hear a common refrain directed toward the unconnected — They just don’t get it!
And yet, the unconnected, the traditionalists with dial-up connections and better things to do than sit in front of a computer screen, have a common response — They just don’t get it!
Despite the apparent power of the collective, any SNG fan worth his phaser knows that the Borg are not invincible. As a matter of fact, they are eventually laid low through the simplest of stratagems, misdirection. When the Enterprise plants a certain command in the Borg’s collective mind, the collective self-destructs. Which leads me to one final question –
In an ultra-connected world, one in which we are utterly dependent on the net for information and communication, what will happen if someone rips our network apart?
4 Responses to Resistance to Blogs Is Futile
Brad, I did love this post, packed full of interesting ideas, questions and concepts.
I think in answer to your last question I’d say: we’d build a new one.
Because as I understand it the web was built by people who were innovating and experimenting; new tools come out all the time now from others who are doing just that; we’ve learned the power of creating and publishing our own material, of finding our voice, of connecting with others… and those skills, attitudes, values and approach would mean we’d find another way to recreate it (or start again and build something even better)
Joanna
Joanna, you are an amazing optimist, which is one reason you are such an effective coach. I wonder what that new network would look like.
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