Internet = Freedom of Speech?

The notion that new media propels democracy as discussed in ‘The Political Power of Social Media’ by Clay Shriky (2011) is definitely a statement I agree with. New medias such as the internet more specifically social -networking sites have given people a platform to express themselves and practice the all important democratic right of 'Freedom of speech’ and of 'Freedom of ideas'. As outlined in Jai‘s blog ‘New Media Native’ (2011), governments are losing power as people are using new media to bring about change. As Shriky (2011) points out the United States of America have promoted internet freedom however, many have speculated the U.S.A are responsible for attempting to bring down WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in order to stop the website from releasing more classified documents over the internet (Clayton 2010). Is it unethical for a democratic government to not share all information with its people?

                                                             Egyptian Protester 2011

You cannot deny that new media is making the barrier between the people and the government more transparent than ever. Personally, I think this a great thing because all too often people forget that a democratic government is suppose to serve the people; as put by Abraham Lincoln ‘of the people, by the people and for the people (America.gov 2008).  

Reference list

- Clayton, Darnell. ‘Us government going after WikiLeaks.’ Last modified Novemeber 30^th 2010. http://www.blogherald.com/2010/11/30/us-government-going-after-wikileaks/

- Shriky. C. 2011. “The Political Power of Social Media: Technology; the public sphere and political change” Foreign Affairs, Vol 90 Issue 1: p.28-41

-What is democracy? Last modified on 3^rd of May 2008.http://www.america.gov/st/democracyhr-english/2008/May/20080619223145eaifas0.5311657.html

- Morton, Jai. ‘Power to the People’ Last modified March 26^th 2011. http://jailouisemedia.blogspot.com/

Entertainment & The Internet

Thanks to the internet it is no longer the case that people have to go to the cinemas to see a movie or a music store to find new music. The internet allows for all these things and more to be done online. Even though having everything in one place, such as the internet, is convenient and often free to access at a click of a button, it does, as the Steven Levy reading points out, take the thrill out of such activities.

In my opinion this is very true, as the Levy explains finding, for example, an underground band is so easier to do through the internet that soon enough the band becomes mainstream and thus no longer ‘cool’. As much as I agree with this statement I couldn’t help but to think of how the internet has really fast tracked globalization. With the internet, people can acquire movies, television shows, music, news etc. from the other side of the globe.

This is in my view one of the best things to come out of the internet. It has broken down the barriers of time and space. I can’t deny that I love having the ability to be entertained by something I wouldn’t ordinarily find in Australian mediums. 

References:

Levy, S. (2006). The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture and Coolness, New York: Simon & Schuster, pp. 21-41

Singh, M. (2008).  Bollywood's Viral Video in Time International (Canada Edition), Vol. 171, Issue 14 . Available online at: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1713342,00.html

The Glass Bedroom

Along with 500 million people in the world (Facebook, 2011) I am a Facebook user and until this week I have never really thought much in terms of the ‘glass bedroom’, where through social networking sites we can conduct private things in a public space and often have an invisible audience on watch. This week’s readings have prompted me to ask, why are we so comfortable with this arrangement?

In the years that I have had my Facebook account I’ve had a number of 'friend requests from people I have never met. Why would someone add a complete stranger to view their personal information, conversations and thoughts? Perhaps, they use these sites to create new connections OR to appear more impressive by having a lot of ‘friends’ (even though in the real world we wouldn’t be considered friends at all). We all know that sharing too much publicly can come back to bite us. I think it is important to be cautious of what you share and choose your audience wisely.  

I have a number of people that I’m friends with on Facebook but in reality are acquaintances.  I suppose I am comfortable with them viewing my page because I have control on what I put on. I simply don’t display anything I don’t want to share.

References:

Donath, J. and boyd, d. (2004). Public displays of connection.   BT Technology Journal , volume 22 (4): 71-82. 

Facebook (2011)  Facebook: Press Room. http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

Pearson, E. (2009).     All the World Wide Web's a stage: the Performance of Identity in Online Social Networks . First Monday, volume 14, Number 3.