The Internet has certainly created the ability to communicate and engage with others across the globe but the explosion of the Internet has far greater consequences too! In this short article we will look at how the Internet will eventually impact almost every facet of human interaction from where and how we live, our work endeavours, even to how we are governed. The Internet has the potential to reverse the recent failure of the family unit and breath life back into 'personal response-ability' something that has sadly declined over the past few decades.
Our children won't know how to talk to each other any more...
There is a real fear that Social Media in all its guises is turning our kids into illiterate, anti social people who are forgetting basic skills like writing proper sentences and who's only connection to the outside world is through a keyboard and sites like Facebook. Quite frankly this is an ill informed view... although texts and short hand communication is different it is certainly more legible than shorthand of the past... and if we look closely at posts and communications on Facebook they are largely as a result of parties, gatherings, and offline social intercourse.
So rather than rely on hype and scaremongering let us look at some of the really interesting trends taking place right now which could reveal our true destiny rather than get carried away with that of our overzealous imagination.
The Workplace
Yes the workplace is evolving, there is a strong desire, backed up with new government legislation to permit people if requested to work from home. Of course this is not always possible, manufacturing, distribution, there are some tasks that need people to be in a specific place, but... there are many that do not.
As the economy changes, as the new generation enter the workforce they are looking for a much less delineated style of working than those of us who learned our stock and trade during the 70's, 80's and 90's. Gone are the fixed hours, gone are the fixed locations, people are starting to question, why can't I work when the kids are asleep, I am at my best 5am in the morning, I don't want to be tied down to 9-5 concepts anymore... It might even be that business partners are international and 11pm is when the conference call takes place. People are waking up to the fact that work can be scheduled around family life, the school runs and taking care of the kids between 4pm and 7pm is prime family time, and a couple of hours can be squeezed in at 8pm-10pm or early in the morning.
Not only the above however... the Internet enables people to quickly set up businesses, Joint venture and collaborate to create businesses that are based from home. Suddenly a whole new sector of Micro enterprise is springing up. These are very efficient, task orientated, highly flexible and adaptable businesses, able to take advantage of emerging trends and grow quickly to compete with more traditional businesses with offices and staff, but with much lower overheads.
Of course cloud computing and the plethora of new and emerging Internet services facilitates this way of working, but what is the impact of these changes going forward?
Look out for changes in buildings and the use to which buildings are put too... We have already seen the construction of homes that combine living space along with office style accommodation, catering for the new genre of businesses, moving away from back bedroom / living room table which impinges on regular family activity, but close enough to be on-hand if the family demands it.
Office blocks will begin to see large sectors of vacant space as businesses scale down the physical size of their enterprise, but this will give rise to shared office space opportunities... meeting places for solopreneurs or Micro businesses to hold Jam sessions with collaboration partners... or for those who find working alone a challenge, a more social place to work from with the potential for pub nights out and other events for those operating in a similar way.
It is not too difficult to imagine that these shared office spaces could turn into networking and business collaboration hubs, no longer working for a single company, people will inevitably will find out what others do, recommend others and come into contact with a wide selection of different business skills. This may well be the natural evolution of the 'stand alone' dedicated networking clubs that have sprung up over the recent years, where networking is a normal part of the day as opposed to an event attended a few times per week.
Employer / Employee... gives way to Customer / Supplier
As large companies begin to embrace remote working then the road is paved for the next step... the slow disintegration of the Employer / Employee relationship so much a part of the last 150 years and its replacement with the Customer / Supplier model.
The old adage of 'People buy People first' has never been more true and with the global phenomena of Social Networks this has been accelerated. People are moving headlong into building their own profile, their social map... their brand and these profiles are being used to select collaboration partners, suppliers and of course potential customers.
The term Job has actually been a rather temporary phenomena, one that will have perhaps lasted two or three hundred years and spawned way back in the industrial revolution. It is a term we have become familiar with, part of the definition of the workplace along with Office space, desks, filing cabinets, computer equipment and the rented photocopier... but it is about to change for a great many of us.
'Job' is a term that will be consigned to the history books before many more decades have passed. The youth of today... business owners of tomorrow... will enjoy multiple income streams perhaps 6 or 7 at a time. They will be more task orientated and will work when, where and with whom they choose. They will collaborate and Joint Venture with those that provide the greatest potential for success, to maximise the return, effectivity and speed of business development.
Exciting stuff... but this also means that millions of people will be living, working and playing right in their own community!
Community
As we have seen above Communities of people with a common thread can spring up almost anywhere, but the implications of people working from home i.e. their local community could conceivably be very interesting indeed.
Local Community Interaction, it stands to reason that if we are working from home that we will be spending far more time in our own community. In the past, certainly in the winter we may not have seen much of our home or the community in the daylight, let alone meet any of our neighbours. When working from home this all changes, suddenly we visit the local shops, meet people on the school runs and we engage with those around us... slowly we begin to integrate back into the local community and this gives rise for the potential or re-energising the spirit of local community.
It is natural that those who spend more time in the local community will be more interested in what is going on. It is really no wonder that in the past, local protests have been led in the main by women with children and the elder population, this is because they are the ones who are active and most affected by decisions which are taken locally. As more people work in the community so there will be more care and concern over what happens and people will become more involved. The concept of community, once lost for a good many of us in the mad rush of commuting to and from a remote office, could soon be reborn...
Perhaps even in this respect the Government is now on Trend. Recent announcements to decentralise government, reduce the size of central administration and put more control back in the hands of the people seems a little far fetched. Critics have argued that people have enough to do without trying to govern themselves as well... don't people just want to be told what to do, good or bad? If however, we are spending more time in our community then perhaps this is reason enough to tap into this initiative and have local people making local decisions about local issues.
Environmental
The whole world has a responsibility to reduce the carbon footprint... I have long argued that if one can reduce carbon emissions and pretty much carry on as normal, then we would make that choice. It is not about whether we believe the environment is being adversely affected by the burning of fossil fuels it is a simple choice, if we can achieve the same and create less carbon, then why not?
The move to working remotely, presents us with a fantastic opportunity to utilise technology such as Video conferencing, and make massive reductions in our Carbon Footprint. Travelling by car is the single largest contribution to our personal Carbon production... but this is not the biggest sacrifice we make... that is the time we waste... some of us might spend 10 hours a week in a car, this is an extra day a week of family time or even productive time... couple this with the sheer numbers of people just sitting in traffic, how much wasted productive output are we squandering? as well as polluting the environment... it just isn't sensible anymore.
Now of course we can't do away with travel entirely, but with a significant reduction in the numbers on the road, we can ease the pain for those essential journeys and generate less pollution too! With a reduction in vehicles comes the subsequent reduction in the new road building programme, money that could be invested to improve the more energy efficient rail network... a network that has the capacity to handle much more commercial traffic, reducing the number of lorries on the roads and providing the much needed income to provide low cost rail travel for the public... which lets face it is the only way to encourage us out of our cars and onto the trains.
Social Responsibility and Security
Over recent years there has been a steady growth in Local Farm Shop enterprises, these are typically a selection of local businesses offering goods based on a small section of a farmstead. This is an interesting development, as we move through the next few decades and as the 'Communities' are reborn we can expect to see this concept broadening out.
As we engage with those around us we gradually begin to meet, know, like and trust others in our community, inevitably we find out what they do and what they do for a living... there will be resurgance of the buy locally ethos... why would we not buy our sausages from the local butcher who deals with the farms locally... eggs, milk, butter and other produce would follow suit. This produce is not travelling 250 miles before it hits the supermarket shelves and we know the people who produce it personally... it is an idea that might just catch on... and could just alter the shopping habits of a nation... eventually...
As local community builds we become part of an infratrusture that is more secure, people begin to watch out for each other, crime goes down as social pressures make us look at our own behaviour. Marriage and social responsibility may begin to see the 'family unit' back on the agenda with the ensuing benefits of less break ups, and a more balanced and harmonious environment for children to develop. Who would not want to see a return to a future that looks like this?
Strangely enough community like online social networks become self policing. It is amazing what people share on Facebook, it is a bit like big brother but we are providing the information voluntarily by ourselves... however if we have nothing to hide then it is not an issue. So policing, surveillance and control can be reduced with more tightly integrated communities as the world moves to Open, Random and Supportive a characteristic already starting to emerge online in various Social Networking Communities.
In Conclusion
It seems strange that a phenomena such as the Internet that initially enabled us to keep in touch with those thousands of miles away could potentially have such huge repercussions much closer to home as well. We all constantly strive to provide food and shelter for our families, Security and protection for our loved ones, a healthy balance between work, family and leisure activities and social networks that allow us to participate in different roles.
The Internet of course by itself can achieve nothing, it is merely a facilitation device to be used in any way we see fit. But it has the capacity to knit together some key trends that can now converge through a single conduit.
Greater emphasis on personal responsibility, the family and community contribution
More flexibility on where, how, when and with whom we work
Financial Security through multiple income streams
Living in greater harmony with our planet
The internet changes nothing and changes everything. We can of course continue in the same vein as we have for the past few decades and nothing much will probably happen for a few years... but... the world is moving on, huge changes are afoot and one thing is for sure, the next two decades will be the most intriguing yet!
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