Perpetually insightful, Nick pinpoints a culture shift that's moving so swiftly, he proposes, there may be no antidote. This movement is rooted in the instantaneous social feedback provided by friend lists, comments, and status messages--the ways in which social networks connect us. It's a movement whose adoption has been so viral, so widespread, that it may not be given the time to foster a sensible response. A sensible response, like the irony employed by the punk movement, to counter the impotent revolution of the 60s. Nick argues that this irony was a product of a slower catalyst. A formal, combative pattern, applied systematically, with the luxury of time.
Our social network revolution. This is my generation--this is where I live and work and think. Have we become too human, too connected? Will the response be monstrous and dark? Will we dismiss this monster, validating its violent eruption?
These questions are scary, because in the midst of our participatory revolution, I identify with the rebellion. We know that our form of humanity moves faster than its ancestors. How will irony adapt? In the best case, perhaps the internet will be a vessel for its propagation--capable of responding as quickly and efficiently as our own viral over-humanization. But there are many worst cases. Will it cost us more than our joke of a dream?