5 ms·

It's interesting that the opposite happened in the past 5 years. The Revolution IS on YouTube. It is live-Tweeted, live-blogged, and live-streamed. It gets info

It's interesting that the opposite happened in the past 5 years. The Revolution IS on YouTube. It is live-Tweeted, live-blogged, and live-streamed. It gets information past oppressive regimes, authors past publishers, and knowledge past editors. The Internet sped up The Revolution, and that's why Sazorsky wants to slow it down. It's also interesting that there has been no Revolution. Politics are just as divisive and ill-informed as ever, and the division is live-Tweeted, live-blogged, and live-streamed. Disinformation keeps the same politicians in power, the same industries on life support, and the truth down. The Internet slowed down the Revolution, and that's why nobody needs to spend time controlling it.

Create 15y ago
here is your invite to come down the rabbit hole... http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/2011/05/all_watched_over_by_machines_o.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/2011/05/all_watched_ov...
raganwald 15y ago
Very interesting indeed. When I snarfed this from Gil, I wasn't thinking of social revolutions, I was responding to DMCA takedowns of hacking information, much like the recent Sony/Geohot situation.
samtp 15y ago
I don't think the internet has had nearly as much influence on everyday events as we give it. Most tweets, videos, and blogs are for the benefit of people watching in. The only benefit to people involved in the action is increased PR. But most of the situations are left untouched by the outside world despite the PR. And outside help will only come for greater political/business reasons. Social media is great, but don't let the rhetoric get out of control.
- wahnfrieden 15y ago
  It can even have a detrimental effect, as people who tweet or blog about something can psychologically feel they've done enough good work, instead of being compelled to take "real" action.
  - wahnfrieden 15y ago
    I also wonder what impact things like voting and retweeting have on that psychological effect. I can only imagine that this kind of outside validation only reinforces the idea that what you've done is good and good enough. Further, what impact does it have to display the vote count to others (both for the commenter and its readers)?
- loup-vaillant 15y ago
  You're not giving the internet enough credit, I think. See what we are doing right now, writing comments on a news site? That's called "public debate". Do you think we would be trained to do public debate if there was not internet? I think most of us wouldn't be. My point is, the internet gives to an unprecedented number of people the power to argue smart. Sure, smart arguing isn't nearly enough, but it's a much needed catalyst.
  - samtp 15y ago
    Since the internet came about has: Healthcare become cheaper/better distributed? Income inequality become less of a reality? Citizens been able to create meaningful change from politicians? People been able to organize against large corporations? I could go on, but the answers are a resounding no. I love the internet. It allows me to feed my family. It allows me to quickly view more information than otherwise possible. But the question is what are we now doing with these huge piles of info dropped upon us?
    - loup-vaillant 15y ago
      The internet looks like it has been there forever. But look at the dates, it didn't really took off before 1995, and even then, most people didn't have a connexion yet. The internet is still young. Not many people are using it fully, and we are already seeing significant (though not huge) effects. Compare the internet and the printing press. The printing press allowed people to read. This was huge. But this was also slow. It took time to spread, and it took more time to get to the enlightenment, and the revolutions that ensued. Now, the internet is allowing people to write. This is equally huge. Remember the old, pious principles about freedom of expression? Until the internet, few had that freedom: politicians, journalists, eminent union leaders, and that was it. Now everyone can publish. The internet will enable revolutions. Probably not now, it is too young, but… See what is currently happening in Spain. There currently is a huge protest, which is now becoming more than a mere protest. They are constructively discussing about how to run the country, while explicitly avoiding "politics"[1]. They are too big to be ignored by the mainstream media, even here in France. Their main communication and organization tool is the internet. Without this many-to-many communication platform, they just couldn't have done it. They may not succeed, but they at least have a chance. And I predict there will be more like it. I don't know what will become of it, but at this rate, there will be huge changes soon. Like, in the next 20 years. [1]: http://lesswrong.com/lw/gw/politics_is_the_mindkiller/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/gw/politics_is_the_mindkiller/
erikpukinskis 15y ago
Scott-Heron said The Revolution Will Not Be Televised means the first change will take place in your mind: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZvWt29OG0s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZvWt29OG0s
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]

Create 15y ago

here is your invite to come down the rabbit hole... http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/2011/05/all_watched_over_by_machines_o.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/2011/05/all_watched_ov...

raganwald 15y ago

Very interesting indeed. When I snarfed this from Gil, I wasn't thinking of social revolutions, I was responding to DMCA takedowns of hacking information, much like the recent Sony/Geohot situation.

samtp 15y ago

I don't think the internet has had nearly as much influence on everyday events as we give it. Most tweets, videos, and blogs are for the benefit of people watching in. The only benefit to people involved in the action is increased PR. But most of the situations are left untouched by the outside world despite the PR. And outside help will only come for greater political/business reasons. Social media is great, but don't let the rhetoric get out of control.

wahnfrieden 15y ago
It can even have a detrimental effect, as people who tweet or blog about something can psychologically feel they've done enough good work, instead of being compelled to take "real" action.
- wahnfrieden 15y ago
  I also wonder what impact things like voting and retweeting have on that psychological effect. I can only imagine that this kind of outside validation only reinforces the idea that what you've done is good and good enough. Further, what impact does it have to display the vote count to others (both for the commenter and its readers)?
loup-vaillant 15y ago
You're not giving the internet enough credit, I think. See what we are doing right now, writing comments on a news site? That's called "public debate". Do you think we would be trained to do public debate if there was not internet? I think most of us wouldn't be. My point is, the internet gives to an unprecedented number of people the power to argue smart. Sure, smart arguing isn't nearly enough, but it's a much needed catalyst.
- samtp 15y ago
  Since the internet came about has: Healthcare become cheaper/better distributed? Income inequality become less of a reality? Citizens been able to create meaningful change from politicians? People been able to organize against large corporations? I could go on, but the answers are a resounding no. I love the internet. It allows me to feed my family. It allows me to quickly view more information than otherwise possible. But the question is what are we now doing with these huge piles of info dropped upon us?
  - loup-vaillant 15y ago
    The internet looks like it has been there forever. But look at the dates, it didn't really took off before 1995, and even then, most people didn't have a connexion yet. The internet is still young. Not many people are using it fully, and we are already seeing significant (though not huge) effects. Compare the internet and the printing press. The printing press allowed people to read. This was huge. But this was also slow. It took time to spread, and it took more time to get to the enlightenment, and the revolutions that ensued. Now, the internet is allowing people to write. This is equally huge. Remember the old, pious principles about freedom of expression? Until the internet, few had that freedom: politicians, journalists, eminent union leaders, and that was it. Now everyone can publish. The internet will enable revolutions. Probably not now, it is too young, but… See what is currently happening in Spain. There currently is a huge protest, which is now becoming more than a mere protest. They are constructively discussing about how to run the country, while explicitly avoiding "politics"[1]. They are too big to be ignored by the mainstream media, even here in France. Their main communication and organization tool is the internet. Without this many-to-many communication platform, they just couldn't have done it. They may not succeed, but they at least have a chance. And I predict there will be more like it. I don't know what will become of it, but at this rate, there will be huge changes soon. Like, in the next 20 years. [1]: http://lesswrong.com/lw/gw/politics_is_the_mindkiller/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/gw/politics_is_the_mindkiller/

erikpukinskis 15y ago

Scott-Heron said The Revolution Will Not Be Televised means the first change will take place in your mind: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZvWt29OG0s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZvWt29OG0s

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]