THE CHIP NETWORK
Many families’ lives improved immensely because of this decision. Mental health improved, people went out of the house more, and people had a reignited sense of purpose. One family that was especially glad about this was the Coopers. Mrs. Cooper only worked when in the office and got involved in multiple volunteer activities where she was able to meet new people, as opposed to just chatting through Facebook groups with people who were within her city. Joshua still spent a couple of hours a day playing video games, but he had to walk to the arcade to meet up with others who were doing the same thing. Most notably, Clara began forming more meaningful relationships with her peers because of the elimination of cyberbullying, social media fakeness, and overall desensitization to how friendship and love feel in real life.
After Clara finishes her work, eats a family dinner, and does a brief workout, she questions how she should spend her Friday night. She feels a twinge of loneliness and boredom, so she opens her laptop to find someone to talk to. Scrolling through The Chip, she sees that John is playing video games, Sarah and her friend are at a bar downtown, and Emily is waiting for the 10 pm showing of a new film at the theater. The Chip tells her how many people are in the community where each of those activities is happening, and she decides to join Sarah because it seems like a rather low-key night at The Smith. After a beer, I could always join John at the arcade, she thinks to herself. So she shuts her laptop and heads out. She gets on the train and gets excited to fill her friends in on her long day. It has only been five years since The Chip became mandatory for us in 2030. Clara is only 22, so the shift was not too much for her to adjust to because she was still in her formative teen years. Her parents still struggle a little, though, as do many from their generation. Clara saw how her grandparents talked about their usage of MUDs, and her uncle reminisced on his time spent playing online video games with people across the world. They talked about hours and days they would spend simply looking at a screen, talking with people they never had and would never meet. They became communication addicts to the extent that it was detrimental to their health. This is why Clara happily embraced The Chip.
Clara exits her train and only has a short walk to get to The Smith. She is excited to see her friends but also meet new people. Since people have specific times allotted to socialization, people in her country are very friendly and open to new friends and conversation– you won’t catch someone out without that intention. “Clara!” Sarah yells as she sees her friend enter the bar, “I just got a Ping that you got here!” Clara greets her friend with a hug and replies, “So good to see you!” The girls catch up on their past few days, giving each other their full attention because they know the value of interaction now. The childhood friends have become much closer now that they relay information and feelings to each other in person rather than over text and social media. “Should I Ping the rest of our class to let them know we are out?” Sarah proposes after a couple of drinks and an hour or two of catching up. Clara laughs at Sarah using Ping as a verb, as it reminds her of her mom’s first reaction to it. It is basically an Evite! Or just a text! Mrs. Cooper had said.Gathering herself, Clara replies, “Definitely!” Eventually, people join and leave as their social battery allows, all enjoying themselves to the fullest.
There is beauty in using computer networks. They are a tool that unites people and makes life more interesting. They are not, however, a substitute for human interaction. There is a happy balance between these two things, and after a lot of discussions, people decided regulations were necessary to repair the relationship between humans and computers– at least for now.