Robin

You're right – and you mirror what Robin says – that even though our communication may be flatter, our behaviour isn't.

I think what you and him have said here is very, very pertinent and is the answer to my post. SO:

Yes, the earth is flatter in the communication we use.

But no, the earth is not flat on our behaviour.

One final thing is that, still, the earth is ultimately round. There will always been inequality – so is fighting it the wrong thing to do? Should we instead be celebrating it, and using maximizing the strengths that come with it?

The flattening effect of social media to my idea is the possibility it offers to all people to express their opinion. However, that does not mean that everybody “has” to listen to whoever is talking. Your keynote speakers will talk to anyone, but will they do the same after the Likeminds event? I agree with Robin, the technology does empower people and nakes the world flatter, but people are still people and will behave in the same old pattern in social media.

The problem is that anybody is able to say whatever they wish, no matter if it is true or not, or if it ads any value to others. However, I do expect that social media will evolve and will adapt social rules as society has always done in history, thus filtering out “unwanted” behavior. Although this will unflatten it at least partly.

Looking forward to your next post.

Robin

I think your experiment with a comment drive blog is part of this – letting people in, rather than pushing information out.

I've got a post lined up on it for tomorrow

Technology opens doors. It facilitates access. It removes friction and increases the opportunity for connectivity, sharing and enrichment. The technology-empowered world is indeed flatter–potentially.

Enter humans. At one level, we are all near-genetically identical bags of water, chasing up and down Maslow's Hierarchy.

What distinguishes us from each other (for the purposes of this discussion) is how accessible we make ourselves. Much of this will be affected by ego and whether we see our place in the world (or organisational chart) as hierarchical or not – be it family, community, company, culture or country.

The real issue for me is not whether technology has made the world flatter, but now that the world is flatter, are we humans going to behave in 'flatter ways'? Now that the door has been opened – and access facilitated, how are we going to respond? Are we going to let others in?

It's people to people – and how we respond to each other. And I venture to say that this scenario has come up time and time again in history.

When navigation technology facilitated a flatter earth for those brave sailors centuries ago, how they responded to the new world inhabitants – slaughter or share – was an ego-driven, human-to-human issue. And that is an aspect of humanity that seems to have stayed constant irrespective of technological breakthrough.

Wonderful to be in such a rich discussion, Scott.

Well done.

Robin

I guess it still begs the question 'How flat do we want it to go” and the answer is surely a matter of personal preference.