Page 4 - DIVA_1_2008_No.32

New trends...

If there is something our modem tiines do not lack it is studies of all kinds ... In the

late 1 990s Jol'ut Naisbitt published l'fflsbook Megatrends 2000, an iiiternational best-seller, where the autlior forecast
the a ' a -quite controversial ideas in tliose days. Naisbitt wrote tliat networks

would replace l'fferarchies as the priine model for getting thiiigs done inside and outside coiporations.
Yesterdays thoughts, today's reality... Who has not received e-niails from fiiends suggestiiig that they joiii all kinds of
social and professional networks-Linkedin, Facebook, Small World, MySpace, etc.

Today, these are viewed as iinpoitaiit communication tools, and liave becoi'iie so popular that many of the candidates
for president of the United States liave rolled out profile pages on these networks in aii attempt to connect with voters
who spend ti+ne on-line. Even employers go there to check out employees and potential caiididates. Two orit of three
jobs are not even advertised; tl'ie caiididates are approaclied directly or obtain the jobs tlu'ougli networks!

The foruider of Facebook, Mark Zuckenberg, said recently in an intei'view witli the Financial Tiines: "Coininunicatton

isreallyii4ficient. If wecanimprovethatjusta little bit for a lot of people,that'sa inassivelyimportantthing for the
ecotqomy and the world." Today Facebook has n'iore tlian 50 inillion users, three years after it started on the Harvard
Campus!
One could astaune that this is only tlie beginning of tlns new coininunication area... However, the questions are
n'innerous? Will we spend the rest of our lives just sitting iii ffont of ow computers? What about tlie old, fiiendly
hutnan comtnunication and interaction? Will this only be resetaved for those wlio still remember a life witl'iout compu-
ters? What aborit those suffe*g from tlie Digital Divide?
In France, for tlie newly establislied Attali Cominission, they included a psycl'ffatrist whose task is to reflect on-ways
of re-establisl'iing "old ways of coininiu'iications" and reinforcing the local society and traditional fai'nily values.
According to hix'n, research has sliown that traditional coini'nruffcation and a strong local coininunity tend to reduce
violence among young people. He also denounces the trend whereby young people become too "iisk averse" and only
think about their own coinfort, instead of taking such iisks as creatiiig a busiiiesses, goiiig abroad or doing something
different. If we don't take any iisks, society as such will stagnate and becoiniiig passive.
Pliip Adams said some titne ago: "It seems to ine that people have vast potential. Most people can do extiaaordinary

thingsif theyhavetheco4denceor kdcetherisks.Yetinostpeopledoilt. Theysit in front of thetellyandtieatlife asif

it goesoyxforever."SoperhapsNelu'uwasi'ightwhenhesaid:"Thepolicyof beingtoocautiousisthegreatestrislc of
all." On these notes we wisli you all a wondeiful day.
Marit