Notes from the course Network Society: Social Changes, Organizations and Citizens, Barcelona, 15-17 October, 2008.
About the importance of the Network Society
Juan Freire, Universidad de A Coruña
Some reflections:
- Elites are disconnected, as is citizenry at large. Debate is needed as the future is at stake.
- The process of change is led by institutions and citizens, intensively using technology, hence technology is a driver of change and deserves close attention.
Concerning the actual state of the situation worldwide, framed by a deep financial — and systemic — crisis, what causes can be attributed to the changes that the Network Society brought, and what solutions could these change that Network Society brings help to contribute. Is it times for a deep change?
Some questions/concepts
Alessandro Baricco, in The Barbarians, states that we are all, in some way, invaders entering new worlds.
Gartner (2008) Hype Cycle for Social Software: any technology first enters a peak of expectations, of excitedness, then falls down through dissillusionment, entering, at last, a slope of enlightenment where real benefits are extracted from a reflected use of the new technology.
Organizations and people might also be in different parts of the cycle, seeing each other as latecomers or as invaders.
Benjamin H. Bratton: what if people adapted to the net, and not the other way? What if the network was the platform, and the “real” economy adopted it as its natural framework?
Michel Bauwens: this is no more capitalism, nor communism, but communalism.
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