The End of Anonymity
It was good while it lasted, but now I know (everything) you (ever) did last summer.
Once upon a time we were all in the village. Small town dynamics dominated our culture and interactions. There was no need for a social network because we were all within one small social fabric. In technical terms we were below Dunbar’s number.
Everyone knowing your business was a problem, but we adjusted. Part of that adjustment was knowing to look the other way and to mind your own business. There is a lot of strong social reinforcement for this within the small society, which somewhat turns the knowing everyone's business from a bug into a feature.
In this world the village idiot was of course a problem. The village idiot would do things that were antisocial breaking norms and otherwise disrupting the social order. However, we all knew who the village idiot was and why he should be ignored most of the time and dealt with in a measured response the rest of the time.
In the coming world part of the problem is we don’t know who the village idiots are and there are millions of them.1 The goings-on of other people is tantalizing. We can sit back from a far and yet dive in deep at the same time. It’s all of the benefit and basically none of the cost associated with what would otherwise be very poor social behavior. There is a lot of adjustment to this new world that needs to come to fruition if we are to properly create a social order that is not just sustainable but also something we can thrive in.
Technological breakthroughs and advancements are going to make it nearly impossible to be anonymous. Soon there will be very little ability to hide from those who wish to know who you are, where you are, and what you’re doing. Cameras will be everywhere. And detailed, personal information will be plentiful, searchable, and well archived.
We are set to return to the village so to speak. While I strongly embrace progress and growth, I see a lot of growing pains ahead.
Good luck and have a nice day!
PS, Related: this series
If you're gathering around the campfire and within ten minutes you can't tell who the village idiot is, …