Apr 10, 2008: Who needs the government?
I've always loved Kurt Vonnegut's take on social networks, as presented in Slapstick, published in 1976. I blogged about this five years ago:
"...I was reading Kurt Vonnegut's Slapstick for the umpteenth time recently. The protagonist runs for President with the slogan 'Lonesome no more!'. Upon his election, every American is randomly assigned a brand new government-issue middle name, based on a plant, an animal, and other object, combined with a numeric code. President Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain's plan takes off, and these new 'families' persist after the inevitable collapse of western civilization. As you might guess, I recommend Slapstick: a quick and funny-as-hell read, and a little bit of social network thinking along the way."
So... just saw this article in today's New York Times. Thanks to the Internet, we don't need to be connected through artificial names; our natural ones will do.
Calling all Lou Rosenfelds!
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