Hello. Me again.
I know. I've been missing in action for some time now. Yes, you know, the break up, the move out drama, life, travel, all of that. I've been busy, I've been mourning, and I guess I've been dating. I'm not going to say I'm back, but, I will say that a number of recent events have forced me to weigh in on a very hot button issue now.
The internet, as we know it, has gone through a number of hmm, shall we say, makeovers in the last 15 years or so. Much of it has been in the eyes of the media, and we know just how reliable they are. As Sophia Petrillo, the character from Golden Girls used to say, picture this: America, 1990's. The news media is scaring the big baby Jeezus out of parents everywhere with the dangers of the internet. It will corrupt your children with porn, viruses and stolen music. It will be the source of the end of the world! Your teeth will rot, and your hair fall out one by one. Remember those days?
Then somehow overtime, the bogeyman named the internet went away, or at least lost it's tooth, and now everyone and their baby brother's using the internet. From babies playing with tablets in TV commercials to TV, Radio and Newspaper outlets hawking their Facebook, twitter, pinterest and whatever other site is the flavor of the week to them.
The point is, the American, and perhaps the world media has been behind the times and behind the curve when it comes to the Internet, Social Media, and it's global impact on modern society. And sadly, the more things change, the more they remain the same.
As the traditional media scrambles to remain relevant, a dramatic turn has been made in how people worldwide receive and consume their news. And what seems to escape many in the media, is just how powerful this bloc of consumers is, and how willing they are to use their power to effect change and justice.
Many years ago, one could easily argue that Americans, American kids, were smartass, unintelligent, uninspired buffoons who thought they owned the world, and that the rest of the world should move out of the way as the cool kids came down the hall. And people would have good reason. All one had to do was scour the news for instances of Americans behaving badly; from Europe, to the Caribbean and all over, the absence of common sense, and knowledge of world customs and what Jamaican elders would call broughtupcy (pronounced brought-up-see) meant arrests and in some cases public punishment in places all over the world for what were usually stupid offenses.
But the perception of Americans as buffoons has made a dramatic change in the last 5 years or so, it it's gone mostly unnoticed. The increased access to the internet, and social media has opened up the world to an unsuspecting generation, who have in turn, embraced the idea of the world as being a very, very small place. And that is not only heartening, it's changing the world for the better.
Many years ago, you may have read about the Iraqi attack on the Kurds, or the war in Bosnia. You may have come across statements about the blood diamond tragedies on the African continent. In those years, it would have been something of a fairytale, that came and went with negligible impact. But what has confounded many experts, many of them self-avowed, is that the so called "anti-social"social media has created a new generation of activists and warriors around the world, the likes of which has never been seen before.
One only has to think about the Arab Spring, the riots in London and Paris, the Occupy Wall Street movement and the natural disasters in Haiti, Japan and elsewhere to see that the world as we know it, has shrunken. The wide, vast, unknowable world has become part of almost everyone's life, as they can log in to their cell phone, e-reader, tablet, TV set or game console and experience the world in new and more meaningful ways.
It is no longer possible for a brutal dictator to slaughter his people, for an African Warlord to use child soldiers and to maim or kill innocent civilians and slip under the radar. The world is watching. Teens and retirees and factory workers and stay at home moms are becoming active and staying active in world affairs like never before. Social Media is being social, political and I dare say the world's largest source of advocacy and activism, as people start to take back the power they handed over to politicians and the media. The stories that large media outlets wouldn't or could cover are forced into the headlines by community campaigns, and online activism. Justice is coming to the world, riding on the Social Media train.
There is in this country a conversation going on about the role of guns, money, politicians and big business. As the United States gets ready to get in full swing for the Presidential Elections, politicians are reaching out more and more to their constituents in social media, canvassing for support, rallying the troops. The problem, for them anyway, is that they seem not to remember that the things they've said and done can come back to haunt them in very big ways. From their pronouncements on women's health, the role of big business and tax cuts for millionaires or "job creators," politicians are finding that they too can't hide from justice.
As they try to recruit members of the key 18-50 demographic, people who have grown up in an era where being gay is no big deal, where marijuana use and women's health are battles that were won before their time, and whose concerns are being able to find a job post-college that allows them to live in something larger than a USPS Priority Mail box and eating more than sodium packed processed food, politicians remain clueless to the real issues.
The real issues, issues that politicians the world over are ignoring to their own peril, have to do with justice for everyone, empowering the 99 percent, and taking back their lives and their government. For too long, politicians have been slaves to corporate masters, and the average joe has felt slighted and disconnected from the process. It should be no surprise that citizens everywhere are taking their power back, and letting their elected officials know that they do have the power, and they know how to use it.
The killing of young Trayvon Martin, and the firestorm that has ensued since then, points to this power. A little known incident has become the focus of world attention, as people mobilize, protest and demand action in unprecedented ways. Some have said that the Social Media process failed Martin and his family, but I disagree. One only has to look at the Emmet Till incident, civil rights action in the south, and a host of racially charged incidents over the last 30 years to see that Social Media is helping to right wrongs. Social Media Action has forced the Justice Department and the State of Florida to get involved; it forced banks to backpedal on plans to charge customers for withdrawing their own money, and it has helped to let so-called radical right-wing radio and TV commentators know that their words or hate will not be tolerated.
It is a running joke that if a black child goes missing, you never hear about it, but if a white child does, there are amber alerts and news headlines every 5 minutes. Social Media is forcing a change where the stories that get covered are not the ones that news directors dictate, but rather the stories that the world determines are important. I'm sure that the Kardashians and the latest "reality" pop tartlet will continue to dominate many news outlets, but I predict there will continue to be a seismic shift in the direction that coverage of local and world events takes going into the future.
The makers of Skittles, Arizona Tea and hooded clothing items are likely to get a solid boost in sales as a result of this tragedy in Sanford, Florida. It is my hope that Justice in the Age of Social Media continues to play an equally large part or gets a great boost in of all our consciousness as well.
I know. I've been missing in action for some time now. Yes, you know, the break up, the move out drama, life, travel, all of that. I've been busy, I've been mourning, and I guess I've been dating. I'm not going to say I'm back, but, I will say that a number of recent events have forced me to weigh in on a very hot button issue now.
The internet, as we know it, has gone through a number of hmm, shall we say, makeovers in the last 15 years or so. Much of it has been in the eyes of the media, and we know just how reliable they are. As Sophia Petrillo, the character from Golden Girls used to say, picture this: America, 1990's. The news media is scaring the big baby Jeezus out of parents everywhere with the dangers of the internet. It will corrupt your children with porn, viruses and stolen music. It will be the source of the end of the world! Your teeth will rot, and your hair fall out one by one. Remember those days?
Then somehow overtime, the bogeyman named the internet went away, or at least lost it's tooth, and now everyone and their baby brother's using the internet. From babies playing with tablets in TV commercials to TV, Radio and Newspaper outlets hawking their Facebook, twitter, pinterest and whatever other site is the flavor of the week to them.
The point is, the American, and perhaps the world media has been behind the times and behind the curve when it comes to the Internet, Social Media, and it's global impact on modern society. And sadly, the more things change, the more they remain the same.
As the traditional media scrambles to remain relevant, a dramatic turn has been made in how people worldwide receive and consume their news. And what seems to escape many in the media, is just how powerful this bloc of consumers is, and how willing they are to use their power to effect change and justice.
Many years ago, one could easily argue that Americans, American kids, were smartass, unintelligent, uninspired buffoons who thought they owned the world, and that the rest of the world should move out of the way as the cool kids came down the hall. And people would have good reason. All one had to do was scour the news for instances of Americans behaving badly; from Europe, to the Caribbean and all over, the absence of common sense, and knowledge of world customs and what Jamaican elders would call broughtupcy (pronounced brought-up-see) meant arrests and in some cases public punishment in places all over the world for what were usually stupid offenses.
But the perception of Americans as buffoons has made a dramatic change in the last 5 years or so, it it's gone mostly unnoticed. The increased access to the internet, and social media has opened up the world to an unsuspecting generation, who have in turn, embraced the idea of the world as being a very, very small place. And that is not only heartening, it's changing the world for the better.
Many years ago, you may have read about the Iraqi attack on the Kurds, or the war in Bosnia. You may have come across statements about the blood diamond tragedies on the African continent. In those years, it would have been something of a fairytale, that came and went with negligible impact. But what has confounded many experts, many of them self-avowed, is that the so called "anti-social"social media has created a new generation of activists and warriors around the world, the likes of which has never been seen before.
One only has to think about the Arab Spring, the riots in London and Paris, the Occupy Wall Street movement and the natural disasters in Haiti, Japan and elsewhere to see that the world as we know it, has shrunken. The wide, vast, unknowable world has become part of almost everyone's life, as they can log in to their cell phone, e-reader, tablet, TV set or game console and experience the world in new and more meaningful ways.
It is no longer possible for a brutal dictator to slaughter his people, for an African Warlord to use child soldiers and to maim or kill innocent civilians and slip under the radar. The world is watching. Teens and retirees and factory workers and stay at home moms are becoming active and staying active in world affairs like never before. Social Media is being social, political and I dare say the world's largest source of advocacy and activism, as people start to take back the power they handed over to politicians and the media. The stories that large media outlets wouldn't or could cover are forced into the headlines by community campaigns, and online activism. Justice is coming to the world, riding on the Social Media train.
There is in this country a conversation going on about the role of guns, money, politicians and big business. As the United States gets ready to get in full swing for the Presidential Elections, politicians are reaching out more and more to their constituents in social media, canvassing for support, rallying the troops. The problem, for them anyway, is that they seem not to remember that the things they've said and done can come back to haunt them in very big ways. From their pronouncements on women's health, the role of big business and tax cuts for millionaires or "job creators," politicians are finding that they too can't hide from justice.
As they try to recruit members of the key 18-50 demographic, people who have grown up in an era where being gay is no big deal, where marijuana use and women's health are battles that were won before their time, and whose concerns are being able to find a job post-college that allows them to live in something larger than a USPS Priority Mail box and eating more than sodium packed processed food, politicians remain clueless to the real issues.
The real issues, issues that politicians the world over are ignoring to their own peril, have to do with justice for everyone, empowering the 99 percent, and taking back their lives and their government. For too long, politicians have been slaves to corporate masters, and the average joe has felt slighted and disconnected from the process. It should be no surprise that citizens everywhere are taking their power back, and letting their elected officials know that they do have the power, and they know how to use it.
The killing of young Trayvon Martin, and the firestorm that has ensued since then, points to this power. A little known incident has become the focus of world attention, as people mobilize, protest and demand action in unprecedented ways. Some have said that the Social Media process failed Martin and his family, but I disagree. One only has to look at the Emmet Till incident, civil rights action in the south, and a host of racially charged incidents over the last 30 years to see that Social Media is helping to right wrongs. Social Media Action has forced the Justice Department and the State of Florida to get involved; it forced banks to backpedal on plans to charge customers for withdrawing their own money, and it has helped to let so-called radical right-wing radio and TV commentators know that their words or hate will not be tolerated.
It is a running joke that if a black child goes missing, you never hear about it, but if a white child does, there are amber alerts and news headlines every 5 minutes. Social Media is forcing a change where the stories that get covered are not the ones that news directors dictate, but rather the stories that the world determines are important. I'm sure that the Kardashians and the latest "reality" pop tartlet will continue to dominate many news outlets, but I predict there will continue to be a seismic shift in the direction that coverage of local and world events takes going into the future.
The makers of Skittles, Arizona Tea and hooded clothing items are likely to get a solid boost in sales as a result of this tragedy in Sanford, Florida. It is my hope that Justice in the Age of Social Media continues to play an equally large part or gets a great boost in of all our consciousness as well.
