Most recently, the informational power of the internet has been utilized to spread the word about a dangerous war criminal named Joseph Kony. Now, regardless of what your personal opinion is of the cause or the organization spearheading the effort is irrelevant in this context. What is truly remarkable is how an entire planet went from being completely ignorant of the history of his crimes to mobilizing and putting up posters to further raise awareness to those who were on the wrong side of the digital divide. Without the use of the internet and social media, the organization that is funding the cause to bring Kony to justice would be almost powerless without the awareness they have raised via the internet. This extraordinary power has also been used to mobilize people in smaller countries who want to rebel against their tyrannical governments. The Twitter Revolution and other movements would never have been made possible by the internet.
It is fortunate that young people are as connected to the web as they are. Young people who do not regularly watch the news might not be aware of cultural events and conflicts that have an impact on their country and their planet. However, with news via the internet, teens are more likely to stay informed about the world around them and form intelligent, informed opinions about them.
I agree, but I want to play devil's advocate. Neil Postman argued that technology is irrelevant to our lives. Sure, internet has it uses, but most of the news... so what? I personally encourage news, but I don't actually follow news on the internet or TV because it usually doesn't affect my daily life.
ReplyDeleteBig events always reach me by word of mouth anyway, so is the other news truly necessary? What about all the media coverage for celebrities? If you think about it, is it really that important that we need constant news updates from all over the world at every moment?
I really disliked Postman's assertion that technology is irrelevant to our lives and refer back to my first blog post on this site regarding McLuhan's opinion that technology will connect us all in the future.
DeleteYes, you got news from word of mouth, but where did they get it? They got it from TV or the Internet. Without either technology, it would've taken months for Invisible Children to get the news out by paper, and with word of mouth alone it would be virtually impossible.
(I understand that you're playing Devil's Advocate and that this doesn't necessarily represent your own views. Just adding a couple pennies to the pot.)
I do share your discontent with the media industry as it stands today. Why is there constant media coverage of celebrities? Is it our fault for finding it interesting enough to keep watching the news? How can we get them to report news that matters to us?