Views and Examples on Hyper-Connectivity

Abstract

There can be no doubt that the information and communication technologies (ICT) deeply impact the human society. The difficulty in appraising their effect and anticipating the concomitant changes lies in the depth of that impact. In an attempt to understand the present evolutions, we propose to uncover the underlying structure of this new world by revisiting its dependencies on the hyper-connectivity on which it is grounded, and the consequences of this hyper-connectivity, in modifying profoundly the network of inter-individual relations. Where we used to have ten to fifty close friends living near us, with whom we shared convivial relations, we may now have hundreds of acquaintances living on other continents, with whom we currently exchange specialized information about our main fields of interest that can be professional, artistic or related to any kind of hobby. It naturally follows from these major changes in the scale and nature of individual relationships, that the social fabric is dramatically evolving. Therefore, to quote Aristotle, since "man is by nature a social animal," humanity is changing because society is changing. But, how are humans and society changing? And, what does it mean to be human, in this new society? These are the questions we would like to address.Besides, the hyper-connected world is also a world of hyper-memorisability, where all the information is stored in huge databases and accessible anytime from anywhere, without any oblivion. And, it is a world of hyper-reproducibility and hyper-diffusibility, where all the knowledge, and more generally, all the works of the mind, i.e. all the music, all the paintings, all the movies, etc. can be freely and massively reproduced and diffused. So, both the way in which individuals access knowledge and their internal memories are deeply modified, which transforms human cognitive abilities.L. Floridi (ed.), The Onlife Manifesto,

A Reference Framework to Establish and Sustain Onlife Communities and Its Use

“…The goal of the work reported in this paper is to provide a comprehensive approach for supporting Onlife Communities by employing digital technologies within an overarching framework that is informed by current trends in re-conceptualizing and re-thinking about our societies facing the so called "hyperconnected era" (Ganascia, 2015). This is reflected in the term "onlife", which has been employed in The Onlife Manifesto (Ganascia, 2015).…”

“…The goal of the work reported in this paper is to provide a comprehensive approach for supporting Onlife Communities by employing digital technologies within an overarching framework that is informed by current trends in re-conceptualizing and re-thinking about our societies facing the so called "hyperconnected era" (Ganascia, 2015). This is reflected in the term "onlife", which has been employed in The Onlife Manifesto (Ganascia, 2015). This term stresses the fact that the deployment of information and communication technologies and their uptake by society radically affect the human condition, modifying our relationships to ourselves, to others and to the world.…”