Networked Human / Corporate Consciousness

Posted on November 28, 2007
Filed Under Awareness, Society, Consciousness |

New web-technologies are connecting us in totally different ways, social sites like Digg, Flickr, YouTube are all about user created or promoted content. The various wiki projects take this network a step further. Independent individual non-authoritative (i.e. non-commercial, non-government) information is being brought together in a way never before possible.

This step represents human knowledge stepping outside of us – and manifesting itself into a new collective form. I have said before that I see this as a physical representation of our collective-consciousness, which up until now has always been something unseen – something which works as an undercurrent right across our culture; the collective mass-consciousness.

Whilst this evolution is a good thing is so many ways it also has many other implications – we are not just connecting to each other – but connecting into something. In a very literally way we are plugging ourselves into the machine. For many people the Internet is now synonymous with communicating, socialising and learning.

The problem I see here is that many aspects of this vast network are being high-jacked by other entities; corporations, advertising networks, propaganda and so on. At what point does our self-identification and these corporate images blend together?

How long will it be before we can very realistically pose the question: “Is the Internet a product of us, or are we a product of the Internet?”

Perhaps that will all come down to the powers that ultimately end up controlling the Internet. Right now much of the ‘net is precariously balanced in the favour of the individual – but I wonder how long that will be the case. I don’t see any drastic regulations being put in place, for direct control or limited access. Instead I see the Internet as slowly changing from a free information based network, into a guided social network. And that social network will become integrated into almost everything we do. It’s not far away from that now.

For me the distinction comes down to whether this technology will ultimately mark a new evolution in human consciousness and awareness, or if it becomes an excuse to create personalised-trends based on a network of human/corporate hybrid prosumers.