Current Events in Media

What role has social media played in the Middle East revolutions?

This is the sort of thing I brought up before in a previous post. Twitter and Facebook played a HUGE role in Egypts revolution. Governments no longer have a monopoly over information. People are talking to each other about real events.

But now I worry about countries like China and North Korea where the internet is largely censored and social networking sites are on lock down. I worry because nobody is helping them as we have no political interest in the area. The middle east is hot right now because of 1) oil and alleged oil as well as 2) "Radical Muslims" were the ones who supposedly caused the 9/11 attacks and they "all" live in the Middle East.

I watched this video and it makes me very sad that the major world powers of the US, the UK, the European Union, etc. preach about democracy morning, noon and night, yet they fund repressive regimes in the Middle East and even South America due to commercial gains and "at least it's not Communism." It's sad. And extremely sickening.

The world needs to see more progress. More revolution. We can do this.

Image of the Moment

Before reading any more of my own words, I would like for you to look at the image below and really think about what you see.

What does this mean to you?

What I see is the spread of information at its best. I see Twitter functioning as the way it was intended. Information to and from Libya and Egypt are possible because of a widely used service like Twitter, where updates come straight to your mobile phone. This is information revolution, and we all know information is power. None of the tweets we make or retweet is particularly activism, but it's a step in the right direction.

The more I see about these revolutions around the world, the more I get worried about my own country: not because I see parallels to the violent protests, but because I don't see much of any similarities in the people's ultimate action. We are at an impasse and nothing is working because nobody is willing to consider the 'other side.' The keys are education and balance, but we need to do something to get to the point where we can rationally and clear minded-ly cooperate and talk about these things.

Unfortunately with how our society works, a real revolution will never happen again on American soil (so long as we're not invaded and taken over [which I doubt, considering we spend over ten times as much on defense than we do education {source}]). Majority of the population is too lost in their fantasy worlds, either through money or through television, to be willing to go out in hopes of making a difference. We are not willing to band together because we view ourselves as too different, and it would take a great deal of discomfort in order to make it happen (and we value individuality, and comfort/luxury over all). A people's revolution would require us to destroy our schedules and do something "dangerous." Practically nobody is willing to do it, not even myself (especially if I'm the only one).

At what point will we become so desperate that our only choice is to fight back? Or at that point, will it just be learned helplessness? Are we really just going to roll over and take it?

I, for one, love all the protests that are going on in Wisconsin. Totally barring unions is unnecessary in solving economic issues. People's jobs, their only means of survival in the land of the rich, are at stake. They are taking a stand. And it's beautiful. I want this momentum to keep going. We need real change and we need it now.

There are so many other problems I want to tackle, but I have to stop now. I get much too angry and, for my mentality's sake, I cannot handle anymore. All I can hope is that others will start thinking. And after some enlightenment, they will take action.

Technology Themed Thursday! TWITTER

I use Twitter, yes I do;

I use Twitter, how 'bout you?

A lot of people use twitter for microblogging or jotting down quick thoughts. A lot of other people use twitter to stay in contact with people and have active conversations. Still more people use twitter to describe every hour of their mundane lives. Some people hate twitter because of that. And some other people don't understand why twitter exists or how it could possibly be important.

Well, I am an advocate of twitter. I occasionally update with very mundane things ("going to class") but oftentimes I use it to talk to people, discover people, and really speak my mind, poetically or not ("Bruised up the ol' writing arm. I'm a pro"). I have complained on twitter and have been told to stop complaining on twitter. But there really is more to the picture than that.

What makes twitter revolutionary is the compatibility with almost any cell phone. If one doesn't have internet access on their phone, they can set options to get updates to and to send updates from one's phone via text message. This makes the spread of information increase tenfold in comparison to television or even web news. As soon as something happens and someone sends a quick tweet, a mass text or notification is sent to anyone following the individual and instantly they possess the same information.

How is this important?

A perfect example is the use of Twitter in Iran about a year ago. Countries like Iran and China have censorship on the kind of information that goes in and out of the country; it is controlled. But when stuff went down and people were demonstrating, what the government would have rather kept a secret, those who were involved or witnessed the event tweeted about it. The truth got out fast and there was nothing the country could have done to stop it.

As I had stated in a previous post, the smartphone is taking over as the number one media outlet. With this kind of instantaneous information going to and from these tiny devices, the information age is changing dramatically. Twitter is a very real reason why newspapers are going under. Television is also struggling as the stations can't get to events or get contacted fast enough to air it. Plus, Twitter information is not controlled by the media outlets agenda. Information comes from real people. That's as close to the truth as you can get.

Before I forget: follow me on Twitter! @sMarlo