What if the government blocking of many networks had not been so efficient? What if Twitter hadn’t been around at that time?

What if both these situations had existed at the election time? And this could well have been the situation. Then what?

What if the government initiatives had been such that they stopped all the holes in networking including Twitter? What then? This was probably a chance occurrence, but like any matters of chance, it depends on the passage of time and the opportunity.

The possibilities for human action are always there. It’s not the technology. It’s the way people are – innovative, creative, inventive, opportunistic, all of these.

Catchya later

@ Laura – I think that’s the heart of the issue that you’ve hit upon — the need to engage our own critical minds in the face of ever-increasing information. It really does require active efforts. Your story about Germany certainly is an extreme example, but it’s very real. I’ve read some studies on Hitler’s rise to power, and it’s truly incredible to try to comprehend… human behavior can be mind-boggling, but there are deep patterns.

But you’re right — one of the superpowers of the internet is connecting people who otherwise, for various reasons, would not connect. For good or for bad. But I guess most tools can be used for good or bad, so we have to figure out how to let the positive uses evolve.

@ Richard – Keen insight — that cycle is such an integral part of these technologies. It really highlights how our strategies and mindsets are more important than the tools at hand. As you imply, I think it’s important to maintain an “outside” perspective — i.e., not become so swallowed by the technology that you can only see through that lens.

The issue I’ve had with social media as a means of spreading news is that it’s so easy to spread rumour as news without couching it as rumour. It comes across as truth without being verified.

Since I write fiction that is focused around the way that totalist regimes use and control information and access to it (not to mention the spread of it), to manage their people, it’s fascinating to see this change in the world. If people can organise easily and quickly with these kinds of technologies, and the clever can get around any blocks, control becomes much more difficult for repressive regimes. It’d be fascinating to see how Twitter might affect future activism elsewhere – China, for example. The only limitation for these people is having access to electricity and a computer or a mobile. It’s fascinating.
.-= Joely Black´s last blog ..Feeling the pressure, just a little bit =-.