Social Psycho

By Richard F Adams

A short story set in the near future. What happens when your social media profiles turn bad? A story in the tradition of Phillip K Dick. Jed has upset all his friends by posting nasty stuff on his social networks but it's not him doing it, or so he says?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Richard F Adams
• Release date: Jul 18, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301267682

Richard F Adams

Are you lonely yet you have hundreds of social media friends? Is technology being used to spy on you? When exactly will your daily journey across town become traceable in real time? What are companies and governments doing with the ever increasing data they have one us? My fiction is concerned with and explores that coming moment in history when collective machine intelligence overtakes humanity and our entire lives become transparent and our personalities defined by data.I am fascinated by the singularity, philosophy, culture and technology. My stories are "post-singularity" fiction if you like. Another Day, Ascendance and Virtualis form Volume 1 of Entanglement in three parts. Fall of India is a coda to those and should be read after the first three. The other shorts are self contained but are in the same universe. How many jobs will there be left for your children and grandchildren when the machines run everything? What will machine art be like? Will machines think kindly of humans? Are we creating our own evolutionary successors? What about me you ask? I was brought up slap bang in the middle of the white heat of technology. Unfortunately that technology was Victorian foundries and 200 year old coal mines. I've been reading science fiction since my father first passed me an Asimov as a seven year old kid. I've always been obsessed with it and obsessed with real technology. As a child I used make electronics and strip electronics down. This, naturally, led me directly to go and study.... Art. I attended four art colleges in the end, exhibiting and teaching along the way. Funnily enough though it was Art that brought me back to science as around 1990 I started using computers to make art. This was bloody hard, especially as at that time one couldn't Google solutions, and of course very few people had done this so there was nothing to plagiarize (joke). My favorite authors always talked about the effects of science on people and that's me too. That's what I do. In my writing and my day job, I look at how technology affects people. I am a living breathing creative technologist and digital artist. Strategy engages the mind, stories engage the heart and you know what? In the end that's all that matters. Feel free to chat to me on twitter @dickyadams or at my site www.radams.co.uk... I will reply

Book preview

Social Psycho

Richard F Adams

Published by Richard F Adams at Smashwords

Copyright 2013 Richard F Adams

@dickyadams

Discover other titles by Richard F Adams at

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/richardfadams

Chapter 1 Twitter

Jed Williams @JedWilliams 09.00

So, @JonY you cheated on your missus last night? @emmaY

JonY @JonY 09.20

What the fuck you doing that for? Delete that you bastard!

Jed Williams @JedWilliams 09.22

@JonY Shouldn’t do it if you can’t take the heat. @emmaY

JonY @JonY 09.23

You fucker – you vindictive fucker! It wasn’t even true!

Jed Williams @JedWilliams 09.22

@emmaY You know what he's been up to don’t you? @JonY

Jed Williams @JedWilliams 09.22

@emmaY Why don’t you leave him for me? @JonY

At ten am the phone rang, the beats that passed for a ringtone jarred, he felt he really must change it. Jed lifted it to his ear.

Hi, Jed speaking.

What the bloody hell are you writing that on Twitter for? The voice belonged to his friend and ex partner Madeleine and she sounded very concerned. He could actually hear the worry in her voice and it caused him to feel equally nervous.

Writing what? What are you on about; I haven't been on Twitter today?

Well you ought to take a look as this morning you appear to have posted some stuff about Emma and Jon. Not very nice stuff, she added curtly.

Look it's only ten am so I can't have been on, I've been here at my desk for the last ninety minutes solid.

Well, I would take a look and then talk to Jon if I were you. I think you need to!

Okay…. if you say so, I'll do it right now.

Well let me know what happens and I'll talk to you later yeah?

"Yes ok Madeleine, I'll let you