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Kismet worldbuilding
Apr. 22nd, 2015 04:23 pmI'm trying to figure out what the news media would be like in Kismet (my webcomic).
The problem with stuff like this is that Kismet is space opera, not strictly sci-fi; it's not meant to be a plausible extrapolation to what things would actually be like 800 years in the future (which would probably be, let's face it, incomprehensible to us now). It's for fun. But at the same time, I don't want it to be too blindingly contemporary-feeling. So really it's not so much "what would it be like" as "what can I get away with, in the way of reporters and newspapers, that wouldn't feel too anachronistic".
Here's what I know:
And there I've kind of stalled out. I want reporters, and newspapers, and things of that nature, but I'm not sure to what extent I can get away with them. Would there be centralized news media at all? Would people run blogs, or curate the existing data into some kind of newsfeed, or what? Hmmmmm.
The problem with stuff like this is that Kismet is space opera, not strictly sci-fi; it's not meant to be a plausible extrapolation to what things would actually be like 800 years in the future (which would probably be, let's face it, incomprehensible to us now). It's for fun. But at the same time, I don't want it to be too blindingly contemporary-feeling. So really it's not so much "what would it be like" as "what can I get away with, in the way of reporters and newspapers, that wouldn't feel too anachronistic".
Here's what I know:
- Kismet, like most cities in its era, has a city computer that runs the city’s infrastructure. Kismet, being a small city and a rather anarchic one, is a lot less networked than on a planet like, say, Zahali, but there’s still a central AI that has “eyes” and “ears” throughout the city. Most people have uplink devices to the computer and use them in similar ways to cell phones – for communication, to check in with their personal data storage/email/whatever, and so forth.
- Therefore, everyone in the city is data-collecting all the time, in a passive kind of way.
- Given current trends, future news media is probably going to look more like Twitter/blogs than like the centrally organized newsmedia we have now.
And there I've kind of stalled out. I want reporters, and newspapers, and things of that nature, but I'm not sure to what extent I can get away with them. Would there be centralized news media at all? Would people run blogs, or curate the existing data into some kind of newsfeed, or what? Hmmmmm.
