This is too good not to post… I found it on Jonny Baker’s blog… he found it at Howie’s…
The naysayers said the internet wouldn’t change anything
But the cynics and the black clouds got it wrong
The power no longer rests with the individual
This is an open sourced collaborative new world
When they say phone a friend, they call you
When they ask the audience, you press the button
You are the wisdom of crowds
You are the community
The community has the imagination of millions
The lone inventor has just his to inspire him
It used to be that questions looked for answers
Now solutions go in search of questions
You will be the change in climate change
You will find a better set of words to go here
Tim Berners-Lee built the web
But it was you that gave it its purpose
Now you build encyclopedias
Blogs are the new newspapers
You are the television company
You are the media
You review the books, the films and the bands
You create the celebrity’s
You build the corporations
And yes, it scares them.
You are the power
You are the revolution
You are top dog now
The chief banana
Enjoy
(posted by david hieatt)
Very thought-provoking, but, in a way, very worrisome.
I worry about ‘herd-mentality’. It only takes 1 person to mobilise millions these days – and those millions, all too often, respond without proper thought.
The 1 mobilising millions can be for the good, but it can just as easily be for the trivial, the selfish, the dishonest.
And what of the attention span? Fads have always come and gone, but nowhere is this more true than on the web. The herd is a fickle thing and today’s mass campaign for action can quickly become yesterday’s t-shirt.
Perhaps I need a less jaded view of humanity, because yes, it does scare me. It scares me to think that control comes from the masses who are tricked into believing that that control gives them knowledge and that their power gives them authority.
And then, rather than becoming the servant of all, we become the master of all (or we think we do).
OK – I’ll crawl back into my cave now.
Don’t you think that fewer people are are likely to be fooled because of the ‘net? People are always checking out stories. I think in lots of ways the ‘net has given us a healthy cynicism (I know I’ve got more than my fair share of that!) and we are perhaps less likely to believe the ‘official’ story. That must make it harder for the 1 to manipulate the millions…
That’s one very powerful aspect of the ‘net – the ‘official’ story is no longer the only one available. But how discerning are we when it comes to what we do accept as authoritative?
There’s the old adage – “no-one ever lost money overestimating the stupidity of people”. Bit of an odd saying, but the point is that we often credit people with more intelligence than they have. The ‘net can make it too easy find theories that support our views. It can make things look much more popular than they are. It can be viewed as a repository of all there is to know and, if it’s on the web, it must be true!
Yes, cynicism is good, education is better. I would suggest that it is education that will make it more difficult for the 1 to manipulate the millions.
My fear is that herd mentality does not create a greater collective intelligence but, rather, an overall drop in the average.
Don’t mean to sound so negative. I acknowledge the many positive ways in which communications technology can be used. When the world can come together and be seen as a truly global community, then I say we’re making progress. But perhaps that’s more of a discussion for your theology and God stuff sections rather than politics.
I think what gets me about the web is that everything seems to have equal status and validity. But I guess the same is true in many ways of literature or art. The good stuff lasts, the rest doesn’t. The problem with the net may be that it is temporary. Sites come and go. Readers dip in and out, usualy to whatever google tells them is the most popular site on a topic.
It seems to me, and I’m happy to be corrected, that entertainment drives communication and media based technology. When it gets user friendly enough it usually finds some educational or business function.
It has been interesting to watch the new generation of games consoles emerge and the Wii do unexpectedly well. Sony and Microsoft went for graphics, the Wii went for activity. Users are choosing to get off the couch and play even though Sony will spend billions trying to convince us that life is pointless without a PS3. A sign of the herd mentality or of informed choice? I’m not sure. (and have no idea where I’m going with this!)
Have you tried the Wii? It is an absolute grin and is a game system that I can enjoy, I never got into the gamecube or playstations as much.
Came across this video on YouTube and thought it sort of fitted in here.
Thanks JohnO. I’ve posted the video on the front page.