Lesson Three: Wanted for Speaking in the Land of the Free (Speech)

(Source: Care2 News Network)

WARNING: This article contains raw, unedited war footage which may be sensitive to some viewers.

The case of Wikileaks, the non-for-profit organisation allowing the public freedom to access confidential government and military cables and documents, has sent shockwaves through international governments and citizens alike. My opinions aside, there are obvious criticisms to be made on both sides of the fence.

Clay Shirky asks how ubiquity of the internet affects U.S Government interests and policy. He highlights Hilary Clinton's promotion to freedom of access, production of content and speech online (2011, p28-29). Fast forward one year since her January 2010 announcement, the U.S is trying frantically to shut Wikileaks down and have Julian Assange, Wikileaks founder, charged with espionage. All the while, Wikileaks has burst the freedom of access argument wide open by refusing to reveal the identity of their sources, while openly displaying the confidential details of others.

(Source: The Young Turks)

While the news media continues to toss the hypocrisy card from one side to the next, we are forgetting the fundamental aspect of this argument: the freedom of opinion within the public sphere. In Marrissa Prince's self-titled blog, she states “you cannot deny that new media is making the barrier between the people and the government more transparent than ever” (2010). With not even 3% of Wikileaks 251,287 leaked U.S embassy cables released in the four month since their obtain (wikileaks.com), there is still much to be speculated, argued, and thankfully, publicly discussed.

Prince, M. 2011. 'Internet = Freedom of Speech?' from Marissa Prince.

Shriky. C. 2011. “The Political Power of Social Media: Technology; the public sphere and political change”from Foreign Affairs, Vol 90 Issue 1: p.28-41

Wikileaks. 2011. Cable Viewer. Exact URL hidden.

Lesson Two: Where's the Essence?

Back in the 80's, when our vinyl and cassette collections were our most prized possession, our exploration into the unknown music realm was limited to a few print publications, the occasional gig poster, and word-of-mouth from those in the know.

Fast forward to the 21^st century: the internet, digital music, and Apple's market dominance with the iPod (over 70%) and iTunes music store; where it's become almost too easy to classify yourself as a 'music collector'. The ease of access to both the information and the product (music) has created a shift in power, from what used to be a minuscule collective of the musically 'informed' to a small, yet powerful minority. As Steven Levy states, “we seem to be immersed in an age of musical voyeurism, not to mention musical exhibitionism” (Levy 2006, 23).

Although this shift into the digital age, “when one can routinely access information in seconds that once required a week of library excavation to retrieve” (Levy 2006, 24) can we claim complete superiority over the 'less informed' population, from a collection a digital files stored in a small, rectangular unit with an audio jack? What happened to the essence of the tangible product? The joy of examining and listening to your CD or record collection with your peers has now been replaced with the satisfaction of shoving an iPod into an observers face (Levy 2006, 22-25).

Levy, S. 2006. "Identity" in The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture and Coolness, 21-41. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Lesson One: About-Face in the Social Space

"Never judge a book by its cover"

Metaphorically, we are told not to do the same to others; to make judgements of others based on the conclusions from our personal interactions. These can include interests, morals and beliefs and personality, among others. The intergration of social networking sites into our lives, however, has made us as a culture do the exact opposite.

Our first impressions are made when we enter onto a fellow social network user’s profile page. For those who are not a part of our own online social networks, profile access is limited, therefore a profile pictures, selected interests and a small about me is all we have to make a judgement. If impressed by this narrow scope into their personalities, whether it be fabricated or not, we add them to our networks to investigate the reliability of our observation. While we assume that most online personalities are in alignment with the personal identity, this process allows the user to more accuratly clarify the integrity of the other. This process, however, requires an large investment in time and if unsatisfied, will throw the other back into the social networking abyss.

Social networking sites are a great tool for establishing and reestablishing connections, but provide an incorrect or incomplete assessment of others, and cannot replace face-to-face interation.

Donath, J. and Boyd, D. 2004. “Public displays of connection” in BT Technology Journal, 22 (4). Accessed March 14, 2011.