Apr 22, 2022
It was author Neil Stephenson who first coined the term ‘metaverse’ in his novel Snow Crash. In his book ‘The Diamond Age’, Stephenson introduced the idea of phyles - an ancient Greek term for tribe or clan. In The Diamond Age, people live in phyles—cultural groups that have largely replaced nations. Phyles share values and interests, but often not location—they are digitally-native.
In his 2013 Balaji Srinivasan wrote, “The future of technology is not really location-based apps; it is about making location completely unimportant.”
So What?
We’re all living in digital phyles. Tribes that are formed online. Social media algorithms funnel us down our own cultural niches. Discovering new connections, intersections and communities.
Gen Z listen to more diverse and international music than any generation before. Just take the rise to international acclaim of KPOP bands like Black Pink and BTS.
Are these phyles contributing to the current empathy crisis? And how can we ensure society isn’t divided even further by this algorithmic funnelling?