Thursday, January 31, 2008
Here come the Zippies, finally
FACEBOOK: The much vaunted rise of a technosupertribe, dubbed "The Zippies" by technorave guru Fraser Clark, and digital priest John Perry Barlow, after the "Hippies" which gave birth to Woodstock Generation, is finally upon us. Zippies, teenagers whose brain hemispheres have been jacked into the matrix, and whose minds are so globalised that they embrance three or four continents, were predicted by Jules Marshall, whose story broke in Wired almost 15 years ago.
Today's Zippies own blogs, carry iPods, and cruise websites using Net 2.0. They are more than a media fiction. Take Facebook, which has allowed intergenerational communication across the wires, the instant fad, group causes, and even an online murder.
As South African's struggle to hold onto an identity that in today's online world, means nothing, and the nation-state fast becomes an irrelevence, digital utopia's are replacing the industrialised, corporate manifestations of the political will. Take Yoko Ono's Neutopia, which is based in cyberspace and "anyone can join". Constituted as a country based upon peace and love, the virtual world on the net has allowed neutopians to communicate, staging digital be-ins and electronic love sessions.
Today's Zippies own blogs, carry iPods, and cruise websites using Net 2.0. They are more than a media fiction. Take Facebook, which has allowed intergenerational communication across the wires, the instant fad, group causes, and even an online murder.
As South African's struggle to hold onto an identity that in today's online world, means nothing, and the nation-state fast becomes an irrelevence, digital utopia's are replacing the industrialised, corporate manifestations of the political will. Take Yoko Ono's Neutopia, which is based in cyberspace and "anyone can join". Constituted as a country based upon peace and love, the virtual world on the net has allowed neutopians to communicate, staging digital be-ins and electronic love sessions.
