Tele-cocooning

Tele-cocooning is a term coined by Henry Jenkins [http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/] in reference to an expression used to describe the communication of one person to the next without having physical interaction with that person. Communication can be achieved in several ways, not limited to internet, telephone text messaging, letters and video. The internet connects billions of people via email and just based on the information that is placed on the Internet. For example someone in Greece can find out the weather a friend is experiencing in Brazil. The concept of tele-cocooning is what most people choose to use today especially with the more effective forms of technology. These forms allow for quicker and more efficient ways of communicating back and forth.

Benefits

Benefits of tele-cocooning are the fact that nations can interact rather quickly with each other when it comes to things like natural disasters or unexpected attacks. With tele-cocooning group tactics get done quicker because the group members do not have to be with each other to get the job done. The use of tele-cocooning makes it easier for shared knowledge [http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=0D8xKvLmt2EC&oi=fnd&pg=PR19&dq=pierre+Levy+shared+knowledge&ots=MXsZ7kpCoF&sig=AmgYE_tmAK4QT1OnQ6nLFIfO5b0#PPP1,M1] to come about. The term also makes for just better communication with the use of the Internet a thoughts can be shared in seconds. Using the phone or Internet is also quicker because you don’t have to wait.

Risks

Risks of tele-cocooning would be a person could potentially go quite a while with no contact with humans. This would result in a person, when actually having to have interaction with humans, not knowing how to act.

ee also

MUDs - Multiple User Domains - an early prototype for online communities that allowed multiple users to Interact primarily through text.

Smart mobs - A term coined by Howard Rheingold to refer to the ability of people using mobile and networked communications devices to organize and respond in realtime to developing situations

Collective intelligence- Pierre Levy’s term to refer to the ability of virtual communities to leverage the knowledge and expertise of their members, often through large-scale collaboration and deliberation. Levy sees collective intelligence as a new form of power that operates alongside the power of nomadic migrations, the nation-state, and commodity capitalism.