The World's Greatest Commodity
“Information is the currency of democracy.” Access to information is the integral factor that determines just how much power a people have. This must have been Thomas Jefferson’s thinking when he spoke those words. Or, as the writers of 80’s cartoon series G.I. Joe put it, “knowing is half the battle.” Once we have a population that has unfettered access to information, their ability to make informed decisions or formulate informed opinions increases exponentially. Sometimes, those decisions and opinions have become evaluations of the performance of their governments, and such, a primary tool for the application of democracy and change.
Information in this age flows in at least two directions as opposed to the traditional one. Before, when the public were simply recipients of information whether by television, newspapers, or letters, there was no channel through which we could communicate directly to the sender of the information. Now when a news story breaks on CNN, The Guardian, BBC, or any major news outlet, the public has the power to comment instantly.
As comments accumulate, both users and the information provider can see the forum taking shape. In these digital communities, virtual representations of the ideas of democracy can be seen, groups coalesce behind their shared beliefs and opinions and sometimes a clear majority emerges. Radical views also tend to get moderated, or corralled and rejected by the users themselves.
With cellular technology, much of this information is now exchanged on handheld devices. The access, now no longer restricted to laptops and desktop computers, means that millions of people worldwide are interacting and exchanging information more than they ever have in history. We are constantly processing, sharing, and more importantly - creating content to exchange.
The number of people who have access to the Internet has ballooned over the last decade from approximately 360 million to 1.7 billion (Internet World Stats). The penetration in most regions remains a far cry from the 74% access boasted by North America, but the growth in the last decade has been incredibly impressive. When before only the wealthy could afford access to the Internet, now it has become much more accessible to those less privileged, especially via mobile technologies. The continent of Africa for example, grew from 4.5 million users a decade ago to 67 million this year, a growth of almost 1400% (Internet World Stats).
So more people of varying experiences, economic backgrounds, and geographic locations are getting access to information. It has truly been democratized. The Obama-Biden campaign of 2008 understood this new world better than any campaign before, and has substantially changed the way political campaigning and fundraising works. But as the masses access this information, we change the way we look at and experience events.
No longer can media outlets or governments completely control the news. While some entities are still attempting to control access to information via the Internet, there is always an out, a loophole, and an option for the user to free himself. The elections in Iran earlier this year is a prime example of events being changed by information that has been democratized.
In the past, similar events have taken place, but the world had only hearsay, or eyewitness accounts. This year despite the Iranian government’s efforts to suppress it, we experienced the uproar over Ahmadinejad’s stolen election almost firsthand. Through Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube, we saw what we never would have seen on our news before. The people in the streets of Tehran were not only protesting, they were documenting. They became their own journalists and provided avenues for the world to see what was happening to them. CNN could not break the news to us. They had to show us what the masses were showing the world.
These people changed the world. Being able to see the infamous video of the murder of the Iranian girl Neda on Youtube not only made her a martyr for her cause, it changed the news from an abstracted headline and captioned photo and made it real. It made it a little harder to change the topic to the ‘celebrimania’ driven by websites like TMZ and chased by otherwise ‘serious’ news companies.
Unfortunately, we saw the same phenomena turn its head and do precisely that when Michael Jackson died. The masses went with them. It is hard to decipher if the news houses controlled the switch of focus or if the public in the West was eager to stop seeing the horrors of war and disenfranchisement. Either way, the same machine went to work. The traffic of information regarding Michael Jackson was overwhelming. Everyone felt the need to eulogize the King of Pop on their multiple social network accounts, post photos of the icon, or stream his memorial service or funeral from the websites of every major news house.
Another tradition that has been changed by this new world is education. With greater access to information and communication, comes greater access especially to tertiary education. Distance learning in particular, when from properly accredited and reputable institutions, is blazing a path forward getting students into degree programmes, who could not otherwise afford the money, time, or travel that in class learning demands.
The University of South Africa is a strictly distance learning facility, catering to a student body of 200,000. There are no classrooms on its campus, just facilities that students can access to research and complete assignments. The university was established in the 1800s and is accredited and well respected.
The reality of how information is exchanged, interacted with, and who creates it has changed dramatically. Especially in the realm of education, we need to explore harnessing all the utilities we can in order to improve how we communicate our material for our students, who now have the opportunity to learn in a world that has made information available on a scale never before seen.
Information in this age flows in at least two directions as opposed to the traditional one. Before, when the public were simply recipients of information whether by television, newspapers, or letters, there was no channel through which we could communicate directly to the sender of the information. Now when a news story breaks on CNN, The Guardian, BBC, or any major news outlet, the public has the power to comment instantly.
As comments accumulate, both users and the information provider can see the forum taking shape. In these digital communities, virtual representations of the ideas of democracy can be seen, groups coalesce behind their shared beliefs and opinions and sometimes a clear majority emerges. Radical views also tend to get moderated, or corralled and rejected by the users themselves.
With cellular technology, much of this information is now exchanged on handheld devices. The access, now no longer restricted to laptops and desktop computers, means that millions of people worldwide are interacting and exchanging information more than they ever have in history. We are constantly processing, sharing, and more importantly - creating content to exchange.
The number of people who have access to the Internet has ballooned over the last decade from approximately 360 million to 1.7 billion (Internet World Stats). The penetration in most regions remains a far cry from the 74% access boasted by North America, but the growth in the last decade has been incredibly impressive. When before only the wealthy could afford access to the Internet, now it has become much more accessible to those less privileged, especially via mobile technologies. The continent of Africa for example, grew from 4.5 million users a decade ago to 67 million this year, a growth of almost 1400% (Internet World Stats).
So more people of varying experiences, economic backgrounds, and geographic locations are getting access to information. It has truly been democratized. The Obama-Biden campaign of 2008 understood this new world better than any campaign before, and has substantially changed the way political campaigning and fundraising works. But as the masses access this information, we change the way we look at and experience events.
No longer can media outlets or governments completely control the news. While some entities are still attempting to control access to information via the Internet, there is always an out, a loophole, and an option for the user to free himself. The elections in Iran earlier this year is a prime example of events being changed by information that has been democratized.
In the past, similar events have taken place, but the world had only hearsay, or eyewitness accounts. This year despite the Iranian government’s efforts to suppress it, we experienced the uproar over Ahmadinejad’s stolen election almost firsthand. Through Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube, we saw what we never would have seen on our news before. The people in the streets of Tehran were not only protesting, they were documenting. They became their own journalists and provided avenues for the world to see what was happening to them. CNN could not break the news to us. They had to show us what the masses were showing the world.
These people changed the world. Being able to see the infamous video of the murder of the Iranian girl Neda on Youtube not only made her a martyr for her cause, it changed the news from an abstracted headline and captioned photo and made it real. It made it a little harder to change the topic to the ‘celebrimania’ driven by websites like TMZ and chased by otherwise ‘serious’ news companies.
Unfortunately, we saw the same phenomena turn its head and do precisely that when Michael Jackson died. The masses went with them. It is hard to decipher if the news houses controlled the switch of focus or if the public in the West was eager to stop seeing the horrors of war and disenfranchisement. Either way, the same machine went to work. The traffic of information regarding Michael Jackson was overwhelming. Everyone felt the need to eulogize the King of Pop on their multiple social network accounts, post photos of the icon, or stream his memorial service or funeral from the websites of every major news house.
Another tradition that has been changed by this new world is education. With greater access to information and communication, comes greater access especially to tertiary education. Distance learning in particular, when from properly accredited and reputable institutions, is blazing a path forward getting students into degree programmes, who could not otherwise afford the money, time, or travel that in class learning demands.
The University of South Africa is a strictly distance learning facility, catering to a student body of 200,000. There are no classrooms on its campus, just facilities that students can access to research and complete assignments. The university was established in the 1800s and is accredited and well respected.
The reality of how information is exchanged, interacted with, and who creates it has changed dramatically. Especially in the realm of education, we need to explore harnessing all the utilities we can in order to improve how we communicate our material for our students, who now have the opportunity to learn in a world that has made information available on a scale never before seen.
Labels: essay, information, internet
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