Last week, in the TIME, there was a very insightful paper, an interview of some of today smart thinker (whatever that means, people who have the ability to send snow balls that roll and roll to become huge at the end of the day). What I find interesting is the "technosocial situations" they discussed (i.e. the way technology shapes new social practices), some excerpts I found relevant:

Mark Dery: "You have people walking down the street listening to iPods, seemingly oblivious to the world, singing. More and more, we're alone in public."

O'Reilly: "There's also more communication even in apparent isolation. (...) they [kids] are also communicating in new ways, and I suspect most of us in this room maintain communication with a group that is far larger, far more geographically diverse than we ever would have known without technology"

David Brooks: "Is it possible that as the Internet creates more geographic diversity, it creates less demographic diversity? There once were millions of people in Elks Clubs, and Elks Clubs were incredibly diverse. These days, with, say, online dating, you can screen people who aren't demographically like yourself."

Clay Shirky: "We're used to thinking everything is going to get more and more virtual until we're these big floaty video heads, but actually there is a return of the real, as we figure out how to use this stuff to have real-world encounters."

Brooks: I know people who fly to see a football game, but I don't see why this is transformational.

Clay Shirky: We're seeing lots of places where value is being created outside of institutional frameworks, in ways that institutions can't touch.