I Am User Generated

I’m positing that Facebook status updates that ask us to define what we are and Twitter that asks us what were are doing, allow us to quickly engage in small talk with our online community of friends and followers. When we meet up with these friends in an offline world small talk is no longer necessary, because these friends have been getting these updates throughout the days in between the offline meetings. A higher level of discourse can now happen without having to “catch-up” or talk about the weather.

On a world scale if we can aggregate “small-talk” with tools like Twitter, Jaiku or even some blogs then globally we can have more time for more intelligent conversation. The meeting of the minds historically has solved a myriad of problems, so I predict an extended ability to globally solve problems. The art movement of Dialogical Aesthetics is also betting on this higher level of discourse adding to social value.

Many philosophers have championed self-awareness, or to “know thyself” as a sign of more intelligent and authentic living. If these social tools are constantly asking us to define ourselves and our behaviors, then this can only lead to a more self-aware society. Combine self-awareness with a higher level of inter-personal discourse then what you get is a humanity that is more living more authentically.