THE web, social networking and cellphones have transformed the way we keep in touch.
To many, Twitter and Facebook are the indispensable tools of 21st-century life. They are also ushering in a far more profound development: the digital traces we leave whenever we communicate this way could provide the raw materials for divining the underlying laws of human behaviour (see 鈥淪ocial web: The great tipping point test鈥�).
Discovering such laws would be a major achievement, but inevitably raises fears, as such knowledge would be incredibly useful to those who seek to influence the public, sell us things or keep a watchful eye on society.
Advertisement
Social scientists acknowledge these dangers, but we need to keep them in perspective. We鈥檙e already heavily manipulated and watched, and a bit more of both won鈥檛 make a huge difference.
If anything, the communications revolution has made us less beholden to a small cadre of powerful opinion-formers and opened us up to a variety of sources of information on what to do, think and consume. So don鈥檛 worry about leaving your digital fingerprints all over the place. Embrace it.