What does it really mean to have the world connected?

I admire Mark Zuckerberg.  He is young, successful, and rich and has a vision for the value of a connected world. As part of that vision, he is building Facebook and its associated apps and platforms to support a world where everyone is connected, and everyone shares content about their lives and interests.  Is this desire to share our every thought, action and moment a native human trait?  Have we as humanity considered the effect this may have on our future?

It could be a great idea.  We know the more we see, hear and talk to others that are different from ourselves that we lose our fear of them.  We learn about our differences, but realize in the end of the day that a mother and father love their children, that we all pursue happiness based on our unique culture, and hopefully all desire a peaceful planet.  We all focus on some of the same day to day priorities and so this sharing and online social world will help build a more tolerant world.

I do worry, as someone who gains much every day from walking the beach in silence, that we many not be considering all aspects of a world where we are always connected.   Will the need to conform, to seek approval, to know everyone is watching, keep us from taking chances.  Will we continue to experiment with different ways to dress, cook with different spices, and celebrate our differences and what makes us unique as these new ways can also help improve all of our lives. 

Will we all see what everyone is doing, read about them, and be told via Artificial Intelligence how we should react, what we should be.. who we should see.. how we should dress and what our personal priorities should be?  Will the intelligence of these social platforms fill our known needs and limit our own creative instincts to try new things?

Imagine, you are going to go clothes shopping and you send a message on Facebook to your best friend you are off to the mall.  All of a sudden, in Facebook Messenger, a chatbot comes up from Macy's and says no need to leave home.  Here are three outfits we have determined will look best on you.. message us back which one and we will have it shipped and in your hand tomorrow.  Or, just drive through Macy's and pick it up in 30 minutes.  This may sound quite appealing, but do we start to cede our own intellect and creativity to the masses and the social platforms of the future.

Will the intrusion of a social media platform into every aspect of our lives improve, and allow us to more easily differentiate ourselves from the crowd, or will it cause our desire to be liked make us start to all look and act alike. 

Will it also tempt us to not necessarily share truths of our lives online?  Imagine, you had a car accident today, do you mention it online?  Say you send a message to your mother you were in an auto accident.  Do you get a chatbot offering to help with repairs?  Legal aid? Or therapy?  OR, do you get a chatbot from your local police asking about the failure to report a car accident?  So, do you start to be choosy about what you share as there may be unforeseen risks in this new world?   

Can't this social network intelligence have negative implications, and has Mr. Zuckerberg concerned himself with any of the social negative aspects of having all this great knowledge of us all?  Just wondering out loud.

 

I hope, as Mr. Zuckerberg and the social world beyond Facebook approaches this new connectivity that they keep their eyes not just on their own prize and desire but the potential impact on humanity itself.