The Extrahuman Union

One thing I’ve been wondering about lately is why we’re not seeing the huge level of online social media interaction that we have now crop up much in science fiction (unless it’s the STERN WARNING OF THINGS TO COME brand of science fiction). I think part of it is that the tech is so (relatively) new that authors aren’t sure how to incorporate it into existing worlds, and no one’s sure how pervasive this stuff will be in a few years.

I’m struggling with it, too. There isn’t any in BROKEN, except for passing references to people not using the internet because it’s basically bugged and unsafe for our characters.

And yet, I have to think that in a century, people will likely still be using social media of one sort or another. But what will it look like? A single service? Will there be FutureTwitter where people can send all kinds of quick easy messages all over the place? Will it be text-based? Video? Emotional? Smell-o-vision? Will people have devices that resemble all-in-one gadgets like the iPhone? If they don’t have this stuff, why?

I don’t have answers just yet, but I’m thinking about it.