Future of communication

[Murdoc]

I think we've been going down the path of a less social world ever since Facebook and social media in general came onto the scene. People don't interact like they used to, anymore. Now it's just a never-ending slot to prove that you have lots of friends, a super interesting life, and no flaws whatsoever. Why do people think mental health, or the lack thereof, has become such a major problem nowadays? Especially amongst the latest generation of kids?

The future will either end up a dystopian Wall-E style mess, or we will all be living in our own simulated realities and do away with the need for each other entirely.

Yikes.

I hadn't even ever thought of the idea of simulated realities for the populations.

Wait... Isn't that the Matrix just on an individual scale?

Yeah, so think Inception when they go into that dodgy cafe and see all those people under the drugs that let them live out whatever they want through dreams. 

Imagine how much money that would make, we finally don't have to deal with each other ever again. It's why companies are pushing VR right now haha. 

I forgot to note in my first post - I was out with some friends once in a club and sitting on the table next to  us were around a dozen teenagers all staring at their phones in complete silence. Just sad.

[ToeJam]

It will be a case of the 12 monkeys and Bruce Willis will be sent back to save the world.

[Teddy]

I believe technology will enable people to engage in the interactions they want to have, as well as avoid the ones that they don't.

That sounds like a non-answer, but I think about this from the perspective of RuneScape/Zybez. Back when I started in 2005/2006 respectively, there were way more members back then in each example. However, most of those members "socialized" from a different superficial perspective than we do now. Back then, you had to ask others for help, until you eventually found out there were fan sites. Then, you participated on fan sites with strangers until you found that the RSWiki had critical mass (hey, it technically started in 2005). Maybe you participated in the RSC forums until you found a clan that suited your purpose, and you hung out on those clan forums and used RSC's CD forums just as a formality. And as far as quick messaging of information in a thread-based, non-forum format, we now have Reddit. 

Before all of this, any deeper relationships between people formed as a natural consequence to spending a lot of time together out of necessity rather than actively seeking it out. That's why I figure we often say it was "easier" to make friends back then.

The thing is, not everybody found out about these resources all at once. With newer players coming in, you were forced to respond to each other, and with a large constant influx of people, there will constantly be people at different stages in the game or forum experience that are helping each other figure it all out to different extents. But if all you're looking for is truly the knowledge, you don't need to have idle conversations.

In other words, there's a difference between talking for the EXP vs talking for the EXPERIENCE.

RuneScape was very active in its heyday, because people wanted to have ways of spending a lot of time absorbed in something else. While many of us love the grind for its own sake, most people I talked to who used to play RuneScape quit after level 50/60, if they even got that far. It's not a coincidence. The kinds of people who had played RuneScape in the past now have mobile games, or social media to accomplish what they want. And like I said above, the masses of people who used Zybez really just used the forums as a means to an end, rather than an end in and of itself (talking with others in a forum-based format that Reddit couldn't provide).

Anyway, I think the average person will have fewer interactions with other strangers. However, I think the interactions they have will on average be more meaningful.

Similarly, perhaps forums don't necessarily have to fear technology. I think there could be much fewer individuals on them, but each individual will be on average more active. Perhaps the time comes when we have a throwback, and the pendulum swings in the other direction, and people come back to the experience they had been missing, like I've decided to do.

I envision a time for social media and perhaps for forum where in virtual reality, we can plug ourselves in, and truly "walk through" or traverse forums or feeds/walls. Like you said, W13, perhaps we can feel the emotions more strongly. Any of us who have been strongly active on Zybez or RuneScape have probably had dreams of being in the game or "in the forums," which is even more abstract. Nonetheless, you probably know what I mean.

We don't have to fear technology, we can embrace it to our advantage.

-Teddy