Social networks on the Internet are a blur of mostly faceless people… but wait until dogs and robots join us. I have two predictions for social networking that will be important for the future of decision-making and choice:
- the central role we give individuals will diminish
- the greatest growth in networks will be non-human
Whether or not they are conscious of it, people join for the network effects: the unpredictable synergies of the members. Sociologists, and the folks who design and analyze social networks, have invented individual roles such as ‘influencer,’ ‘opinion leader,’ and ‘gatekeeper.’ I think these terms limit our understanding of network effects and benefits, while reinforcing the false idea that we are in control.
Complex networks have always run the show themselves, whether they are comprised of plants, animals, or mechanical devices. (There is no wizard behind the curtain.) On the animal side, we credit people with important historical events because we are taught to believe in heroes, and we want the world to turn on an individual’s action or decision. This is why we created myths around Newton and his apple, America’s Founding Fathers, and Christopher Columbus.
I believe the next stage in social networking will be to open up our human-to-human networks to the rest of our existence, including plants and animals, gadgets and gizmo's. Some sailors are already networked with dolphins. The US Navy straps radio-cameras to their heads and teaches them to spy. We have home appliances that talk to each other and cars that always know where they are.
Wouldn’t you care more about the illegal ivory trade if you had an elephant on your buddies list? Our bodies already rely on billions of non-human organisms to digest food (and help us make ‘gut’ decisions).
Who’s talking to them?