Making the Technology Behind Social Networks Truly Social

The tech industry ignored the fact that Social Networks lie at the intersection of Social Theory and networking technology. A course correction is underway.

This is the first of a two-story series that showcases the need to merge the social realm with the technological one.

The technologies behind modern-day communication are not conceived in a vacuum. The ideas driving the social networks where we keep scrolling and swiping away with impunity are often borrowed from other disciplines — Genetic Theory, Macroeconomics, and yes, Sociology. They are interdisciplinary in nature, content, and intent.

Take messaging on the internet, for example. The inciting selfies that we share so indiscriminately, sometimes across continents, always find their way into the right inbox. Imagine the mayhem, scandal, and perhaps shame, if our racy “snaps” were received by an unintended recipient. We don’t care much for the behind-the-scenes magic of “routing” algorithms, but the fascinating truth about them is that they were motivated by ant-colony movements !!

Apparently, ants are fantastic at finding shortest-paths to food sources and back. Who knew !!

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