QuoteProject
Living as we do in the age of Facebook, we shouldn't be surprised that some countries are starting to imagine themselves more as social networks than as a physical place.
Chrystia Freeland
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote highlights the shift in perception of identity and community in the digital age, where social networks may influence national identity.

In the digital era, exemplified by platforms like Facebook, the concept of community and identity is increasingly shaped by virtual connections rather than geographical boundaries. Freeland suggests that the way nations define themselves is evolving, with social networks becoming a central part of what it means to belong to a country, reflecting a more interconnected and virtual society.

Themes

Social NetworksIdentityCommunityDigital AgeFacebook

In practice

Example use cases

In a presentation about the impact of social media on politics, you could say, 'As Chrystia Freeland notes, we're living in an age where nations might see themselves as social networks.'

More from Chrystia Freeland

What is interesting is that, although it is framed as a war between the elites and Main Street, the Tea Party is actually really good for the elites.
Chrystia FreelandRead
The irony of the political rise of the plutocrats is that, like Venice's oligarchs, they threaten the system that created them.
Chrystia FreelandRead
All of us can agree that we want government to work as well as possible, and we should all applaud efforts to improve it. But there is no escaping the divisive and essential questions: What is the purpose of the state, and whom does it serve?
Chrystia FreelandRead
In a globalized economy, jobs no longer need a passport, but workers do.
Chrystia FreelandRead
This is the 21st-century paradox: Even as political democracy has become the intellectual default mode for much of the world, the private sector usually trumps the public one when it comes to accommodating consumer choice.
Chrystia FreelandRead
One of the most important political and economic facts of this young century is that capital has been slipping the traces of the nation-state. Business is global; government is national.
Chrystia FreelandRead

Similar quotes

At the present rate of progress, it is almost impossible to imagine any technical feat that cannot be achieved - if it can be achieved at all - within the next few hundred years.
Arthur C. ClarkeRead
With our technology, with objects, literally three people in a garage can blow away what 200 people at Microsoft can do. Literally can blow it away. Corporate America has a need that is so huge and can save them so much money, or make them so much money, or cost them so much money if they miss it, that they are going to fuel the object revolution.
Steve JobsRead
The television, that insidious beast, that Medusa which freezes a billion people to stone every night, staring fixedly, that Siren which called and sang and promised so much and gave, after all, so little.
Ray BradburyRead
Products were once designed for the functions they performed. But when all companies can make products that perform their functions equally well, the distinctive advantage goes to those who provide pleasure and enjoyment while maintaining the power. If functions are equated with cognition, pleasure is equated with emotion; today we want products that appeal to both cognition and emotion.
Donald A. NormanRead
This is not the internet the world needs, or the internet its creators envisioned. We need to take it back. And by we, I mean the engineering community.
Bruce SchneierRead
You can game the social media in the short run, but not for long.
Seth GodinRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.