Under construction

The Matrix world is no longer fiction. The new technology era and its impact on society has changed the ways we perceive reality and its domains. Like Neo, the main character, we suddenly see ourselves living between two dimensions whose border is as thin as our imagination and its limits.

Nowadays one can switch from one dimension to another by clicking and navigating through a never-ending world of data and stimuli. This situation raises the question: ¿Can we really choose when we want to join this digital interface? It occurs to me that we don´t have any other alternative. This virtual bubble is completely wrapping us into its reality while the walls between what is virtual and what is real are collapsing. Our society has embraced both worlds making us “digital constructions”.

Historically, our identity was built in schools, the family, religion, the economic system and media (from commercial to mainstream). We were taught how to communicate with each other, the roles we were to play in our societies and the relationships we were to develop along with their barriers. However, the Internet has modified all this.

We are no longer only readers, viewers or users with a passive role. We can publish contents, edit them and target our messages and their impact. As attractive as it sounds, its success depends on the reliability of the information and on a critical-thinking perspective.

In this scenario the content we publish is as important as the image we choose to represent ourselves there. We must be able to present a set of skills, background and expertise. Only then, we will be ready to operate in this miscellaneous supermarket and leave something as a legacy.

In addition, in this new era communication is no longer the key. Connectedness is what really matters. The on-line world offers plenty of information but also the opportunity to exchange and be linked with like-minded people.

Social media has the power to bring people together and create communities across gender, age, status and so on. The differences that usually label us in the off-line world can be set aside since people have the opportunity to make up their identities. One can choose how which features enhance and which do not. The Internet embraces a non-hierarchical structure which allows us to pass on information and take advantage of it more easily. Would the recent events in the Arabian world have been possible without these new technologies? This connectedness allowed people to move past all kinds of discriminations.

The role that Internet plays in our society has given us a different identity as human beings and as citizens. New technologies have changed the way we interact and, above all, the expectations that others have about us. A world without networks and on-line exchange of information is unimaginable today. We wouldn´t be able to step back in time and live without these tools. Recalling Plato´s myth, we have already found out all the possibilities that they have to offer us. Therefore, we cannot turn a blind eye to those possibilities. We are meant to be part of this community.

Unlike Neo, I would not disconnect from this reality since allow us to be part of a new order which broadens our horizons and breaks barriers. But, as with everything, it is up to us to better contribute to it and to tap into its knowledge for the sake of the world community. And we mustn´t forget that the digital world is still under construction, being fed by our values and our capability to enhance dialogue and connectedness.