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The Facebook Government in waiting?
What sort of coup could take over a networked state?

Jesse Hirsh
Oct 2

If Facebook is a shadow government, what happens when the governance of Facebook is targeted by an external group? If Facebook is an example of an emerging “networked state” then how might such a state be vulnerable to an equivalent coup d’état?

I’m often asked by people who want to try using a Linux operating system for the first time, which distribution would be best for a beginner. Up until this point, I’d generally recommend Ubuntu, as it is relatively easy to use, but also offers the depth and learning curve to keep them active for some time.

The problem with the Orwellian concept of Big Brother as the embodiment of centralized state based surveillance is that it’s too simple. It makes it easy to misunderstand the nuance and complexities of the surveillance state that we currently reside in.

There’s irony in the correlation that the less our bodies move the more our data sprawls. Our bias towards the material world creates a blind spot that hides the extent to which we travel extensively in the digital.

Pandemic notwithstanding, international diplomacy has seemingly devolved to a tone and tenor that greatly resembles the original maxim that might is right. At least as far as Facebook’s concerned.

We tend to use the analogies and frames of the past as a means of understanding the present. However sometimes these outdated frames no longer fit, and skew our perception by keeping our focus in the past rather than the present.