enthralledRemember Niven's concept that, in a society with easy teleportation, a crowd would gather--POIT!--at any newsworthy event? Word of mouth would become powerful once again, and people would gather, observe, and break apart.
Ladies and gentleman, I give you the meme.
Writers as diverse as Card, Stross, Brunner and Doctorow have predicted it.
The internet is literally making other forms of communication obsolete under our feet. One-to-many communication, except in the form of fictional entertainment/creative cleverness (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Cassandra Claire) is becoming a Thing of the Past. What is now--what is coming--is a future where every voice is heard--and repeated to a degree in direct proportion to its charisma, clarity, insight, and ability to give people what they want to hear. A new sort of democracy--and a new sort of demagoguery--are upon us. The era of the global conversation has arrived.
Again.
The future is signal.