A few months ago I realized that Twitter could be The Borg. Star Trek has a long history of creating things before they become reality. Could it be that The Borg which debuted in 1989 predicted Twitter? Millions of status reports (tweets) are being sent to and from the Twitter servers (The Borg Queen). Every Twitter user seems to have a goal to recruit more Twitter users (assimilate).
I wasn’t the only one that noticed the similarities. Author John Battelle posted that Twitter was one step away from the Borg. From his January 26, 2009 post Twitter and The Borg:
Is Twitter the logical next step to a Borg hivemind? First books. Then blogs. Then Twitter. Then … Borg?
He further writes:
What happens when Twitter shifts to real time? Could we handle it? Could it happen? A microconversation in our heads, on all the time? I’m not sure we could. It is, however, what the Borg is all about, no? The delta between individual and social closed to no more than a blink? Very sci fi. Hmmm.
I’m not a Star Trek guru, so I consulted Wikipedia to see if my theory had any merit. That is when I stumbled on a fact that discredited my idea that Twitter could be The Borg. In the section on Characteristics (General Design), I found this fact.
Individual Borg rarely speak except in cases where such communication is necessary.
Twitter is clearly not The Borg.
dhammy
Jul 21, 2009 — 5:53 am
Some recent metrics I’ve seen show the growth rate of Twitter to be declining quickly. I’m not saying it’s dying yet…just that it looks like this shooting star is fading… thankfully. Apparently 140-character-or-less banalities aren’t the next big thing after all.
Naug
Aug 6, 2009 — 7:17 pm
Pretty funny stuff. As a past TNG fan and sci-fi aficianado, I appreciate the humor and creativity of such a comparison. I, myself, do Facebook, but have not delved into the Borg mind… er… Twitter phenomena.