> I would posit that the world of Star Trek eliminates the alienation of everyday life on Earth that leads one to social networking in the first place.
This kind of discussion always makes me think of how in the Star Trek universe, Baseball is no longer a professional sport, the final World Series being played in 2042[1] due to a lack of interest from the public.
So what kind of social changes could possibly have the by-product of turning Baseball into a niche, amateur sport? I don't know, but I'd wager the changes would have to be pretty sweeping. And from there, would it be such a leap to think that perhaps similar sweeping changes might also massively alter the trajectory of social media and/or other apparently 'too big to fail' juggernauts in this fictionalised and hypothetical future?
Disclaimer: I'm not a rabid trekker trying to retcon so that my fondly remembered childhood reality can remain intact. I just like to think about this stuff sometimes because I was/am just a trekker.
As good guesses as any. I remember my feeling when I watched the episode in question was that the decline of Baseball was not due to the rise of another sport, but I don't have any source on this and I don't think this was ever explicitly stated. From memory, the reason was chalked down to something non-specific like people becoming interested in 'other things'. It's been a long time since I watched this stuff.
And people's attention spans seem better in the future if anything, don't they?
I guess getting back to my actual point though, if an entrenched and perennial favourite like Baseball can topple in this version of our future, then conceivably just about anything else can too.
This kind of discussion always makes me think of how in the Star Trek universe, Baseball is no longer a professional sport, the final World Series being played in 2042[1] due to a lack of interest from the public.
So what kind of social changes could possibly have the by-product of turning Baseball into a niche, amateur sport? I don't know, but I'd wager the changes would have to be pretty sweeping. And from there, would it be such a leap to think that perhaps similar sweeping changes might also massively alter the trajectory of social media and/or other apparently 'too big to fail' juggernauts in this fictionalised and hypothetical future?
Disclaimer: I'm not a rabid trekker trying to retcon so that my fondly remembered childhood reality can remain intact. I just like to think about this stuff sometimes because I was/am just a trekker.
1. http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Baseball