It's proved useful for dissidents in some countries to communicate as well. But the urge to be constantly in contact with even your posse, by any means, at every minute of the day  escapes me completely. I think it's part of the inevitable way that something like the internet is changing society in unexpected ways. Between Twitter and reality television, I'm not as eager to see the future as I used to be.  Looks like it will be everyone with neural implants merged into a giant planetary hive mind, twittering, texting and sexting into oblivion.

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H. L. Mencken