This Friday, August 3rd, we will be holding a brainstorming meeting to develop ideas and concepts relating to the future of the digital child as a tool of the Web 2.0 environment. How can the concept be used? Is the digital child limited to pixels only or could it gather data which we could define as a personality? Are there limits to the evolution of this concept? What does it mean for the future of humanity? What does it mean for the future of social networking? We hope to develop this concept into a Facebook application as a starter. Then take it from there. Help us create the future.
Please join us if you can and feel free to invite anyone who is interested in Digital Art, Internet and Digital Evolution, and Social Networks.

Technorati tags: digital children, mike marcus, socia networks, web 2.0, facebook, internet, art, digital

Mike Marcus, the artist whose exhibition I discussed in yesterday’s post, is looking for volunteers to help him create the Facebook application that I suggested. The application would allow you to create digital children with your friends by creating a digital “genetic” synthesis of the two profile pictures. In addition, Mike writes me:

“The interesting thing is, will these virtual offspring be limited to just pixels or could they develop some sort of personality? Is it possible that these beings could somehow be infused with a discrete synthesis of both parents ideas and beliefs?”

This raises an interesting point. What if the application allowed you not only to create a digital image of your child but actually bring him to life by giving him personality traits from each parent. These traits can be identified based on the information each parent gave on his profile regarding his political views, religious views, beliefs, tags, even the applications that he found an interest in adding.

Such a unique application would undoubtedly become very popular and raise a great deal of questions regarding our evolution as a species.

Would love to hear from anyone who wants to get involved in this project.

Technorati tags: digital children, exhibition, breeding, children, digital, art, mike marcus, exogeny, facebook, genetics, virtual, avatar, tags, evolution, social network

Mike Marcus, a 34 year old photographer and digital artist,will soon open his Exogeny #1 exhibition. “Exogeny” referring to the cultural practice of intentionally breeding outside of one’s cultural or ethnic community.

Each of his images displays a digital child compromised of synthetic derivatives from two portraits. Each facial feature is neither from one or the other but a digital “genetic” synthesis of the two.

In Mike’s own words:

“This is the world we now live in. A world where both the virtual and physical are becoming equally real. Where relationships between people do not depend on physical presence or even the ability to speak the same language. Where ideas and concepts exist outside of the brain of the individual in the collective mind of society where we call them memes. It is a world where a digital child is a serious prospect. If people can have cyber sex then why not cyber offspring?”

Yaniv Golan, a social networking expert and one of Yedda’s founders says:

“The concept of digital children is intriguing to us social-network-web-folks. Here is a different, albeit somewhat technical way to look at it: In a world where a lot of our interactions are online, where new relationships are formed in online social networks, where people create avatars and spend their life online in Second Life - it makes a lot of sense to explore the concept of digital children as yet another way to express my online life. Will people living virtual life and making virtual friends want to deepen the relationship and have a digital child with one of their digital friends? ….In fact, I could even imagine a service that lets two folks who have an online (and possibly also an offline) relationship submit their photos and ask the service to create a digital child for them, which they will then post on their profile as one further proof of their relationship.”

So what do you think? Do you see us evolving in this direction? How long will it be before we start living completely virtual lives? Will it all start with a new Facebook application that allows you to create digital children with your friends? And if such an application did come out, would you add it? You know you would…

Technorati tags: digital, photography, art, painting, exogeny, exhibition, digital children, breeding, virtual, yaniv golan, mike marcus, social networking, yedda, avatars, virtual world, second life, facebook

After reading my Love is the Killer App post, my friend Gil Rimon was inspired to write some poetry 2.0. Here’s his latest masterpiece:

How to twit a lady

You don’t have to be beautiful
To get her to read
Your most meaninglessly nothingful
Recent Blogger feed.

You don’t have to be super geek
So she stumbles upon
The boring pictures of your cat getting sick
After licking Poupon.

You don’t have to be rich
You don’t have to be wit
You don’t need to be a leech
You just got to twit.

You don’t have to be a rapper
You don’t need to be Slim Shady
You just have to learn from Daddy
How to twit a lady.

Bravo Gil! I do think it’s great that people are writing poetry and songs about our web 2.0 culture. I welcome all of you to get inspired and comment back with some creative pieces of your own.

Technorati tags: poetry, web 2.0, gil rimon, poetry 2.0, twitter, blogger, stumbleupon, culture

A song entitled Love Two Point Oh has been uploaded to YouTube by johnnyOnline. In this song, Johnny aggregates his affections in a tale of unrequited love told through the medium of Web 2.0 services. There are references to Digg, MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, del.icio.us and the Digg key. Mashable writes: “A full understanding of the lyrics probably means you need to go outside more often. ” I guess they are referring to me and you

Songs written about love in the Web 2.0 generation - I love it!

If you’ve got any interesting Web 2.0 love stories of your own to share, please do. I’d love to read them and do a follow up post on love in our Web 2.0 generation.

Johnny has also created his own version of the song On Broadway by the Drifters - changing the title to On YouTube. Keep it up Johnny. Soon you’ll have enough songs to come out with an album entitled: Songs from a Web 2.0 Age.

Technorati tags: love2.0, youtube, johnnyonline, web2.0, digg, myspace, facebook, delicious, mashable, love, music