Peer to Peer Wireless Networks That Can Change Communication

Personal peer to peer networks are going to change some aspects of communication in the future. Fire Chat is a mobile app that uses a phones built in Bluetooth and Wifi to connect to there devices in range to allow for communication without the use of a network. While there are few instances in everyday life where this type of communication would be useful, there are moments where peer to peer networks have been transformative.

Protestors in China who organized them selves via social media turned to Firechat when the government cut access to the networks that allowed them to organize. These peer to peer network allowed the protestors to communicate in a way that wasn’t censorable by the government. These type of networks are also useful in situation like music festivals when the number of people in the area accessing a cellular network that isn’t deigned to deal with that type of capacity. So people turned to Firechat to share information about band location and access to restroom facilities. 

Peer to peer wireless networks are still in their infancy, and they have already been capable of effecting major social changes. I think the most important aspect to this form of communication is how it allows for digital communication that isn’t dependent on on corporate or government networks. Allowing it to be free of censorship,  

We have already seen how social media can be used to change entire governments. The results of Arab Spring allowed multiple middle eastern countries to overthrow their oppressive governments. National governments had previously not scene social media platforms as threat of revolution. 

Another way that these peer created networks can change communication is improving service in areas that susceptible to poor service. In large cities where it is difficult for service providers to provide service without holes. Say you are walking in the city talking on the phone, you walk into a small dead zone. Instead of the call being dropped if your signal was capable of jumping through the service of a nearby strangers who currently has service, it would drastically improve service for everyone. In other countries that rely more heavily on WIFI hotspots instead of cellular networks, these peer to peer networks that build themselves could be a major asset to extend the range of these networks. With capability of even replacing them some day.