Politics and the Net?

I think more than anything I am learning about the significance of technology in our current society. When I am sitting on my computer talking on AIM or listening to iTunes or even on my cell phone trying to figure out where me and my friends are going for dinner, I never think about things like politics. I think most people don't. We use these technologies so much that we forget that we are using them, as Rheingold eluded to in the book, and we don't consider them as anything but the devices we use to write a paper or phone a friend. Because they are such a part of our everyday lives they are bound to make their way into other areas of life, like politics and culture.

I truly did not realize until now just how much of an impact technology is have on our culture. It is not just changing how we communicate and the speed at which we can accomplish certain tasks, it is changing the jobs we have, the requirments we have to meet, the way we give and recieve information, essentially, the way we live. This holds serious implications for the future. Our children will live completely different lives than us and we can't stop it. We can't shut it out and live in our own world. This world is too big to ignore. We have to, at the very least, make an attempt to understand the changes that are underway.

One change to society that I would have never given a second thought is the way we fight against the government. Netwars. After reading of the revolution in the Phillipines against President Estrada in 2001, I was astounded by the power of cellular phones. Sure everyone tells us we are always connected, we are the internet, we have access to anything anywhere, we can make anything happen... who would have thought war? It's a whole new concept which has the ability to make a revolution even more powerful. Everyone who believed in the cause could participate in these netwars, not just those who are passionate enough to stand on the battlefield.

We have the ability to do more as a people thanks to living a life in which we never lose contact with the world around us.

This also made me think of the ways in which people participate in different aspects of life. This was covered more in chapters 4-6 of the book, but I think it relates to society, these netwars, and our class in a significant way. Our ability to participate. I am one of the students who you would see raise her hand maybe 2 or 3 times per semester. Not because I am not familiar or comfortable talking about the material, instead, I feel self conscious and would rather not have everyone staring at me to make my voice heard. In this class we can be heard and not seen, just as in cyberspace. I think that has contributed a great deal to the success of the internet. Living in such a judgemental society, it's not out of line for someone to have a certain level of anxiety about speaking their mind or standing up for what you believe to be right. Cyberspace allows us to have influence without feeling judged. We can throw our thoughts to the masses and if they don't like what they read, too bad. Nothing lost and nothing gained. I think that's important to alot of people. Nothing is put on the line, therefore everything is put online.