Marianne's Page

Social media has finally given a new technologically driven power to the people. A power great enough that people can tell information providers like Digg to stand up for themselves and firms like the AACS LA to back down, impacting real markets, as described in Charlene Li’s Groundswell. People’s voices, using online social collaboration tools, can be heard in markets around the globe. We the people are now a threat to the institution, or are we?

According to an article in last Friday’s Washington Post business section, YouTube is now banning submissions that involve “inciting others to violence,” after being critiqued by Sen. Lieberman. Fear of al-Qaeda cells utilizing YouTube to mobilize entire regimes is a key motivating factor. While the ability of internet users to influence markets has been demonstrated on numerous accounts, I have my doubts that physical revolutions going beyond peaceful demonstrations could ever be successfully orchestrated via the web. Especially with the FBI or some other of the fabulous Secret Service agency goons breathing down our necks. Hey, I know this is an old question dating way back to 2005, but do you like your NSA cookies with or without milk?

Don’t get me wrong I’m definitely not one for violence, I haven’t seen a horror movie since they stopped filming in black and white (without sound), but I’m also not one for regulation. Why doesn’t our government trust that the community will self-regulate violence on the Internet? This is the same community that can put together accurate encyclopedias, according to Nature journal. Though the accuracy of the information online communities can provide as compared to the experts is at times questionable, doesn’t the simple fact that these communities are committed to coming to a collective agreement on fact and fiction. Wouldn’t these same communities, with a commitment to sharing facts and making sense of their world, be able to self-police on issues of violence.

When regulation comes in to play it can be disastrous, just ask any librarian how they feel about “burning books.” At least they can’t “burn” web content. It’s infinite, I could go on and on forever linking like mad, and permanent, my post, or at least traces of this blog might remain long after our class is over.