Archive: Opinions

The Internet has revolutionized the way we search for, receive, and transmit information. What used to take hours of research at libraries can now be accomplished in the stroke of a key. Simple searches on Google yield thousands if not several million results. Often, we may feel like downhill skiers trying to outrace the avalanche of information that seems ready to overwhelm us at any moment.

In addition to information retrieval, the Internet has also changed the way we communicate. Events that take place in our own back yard or in the remotest parts of the world appear on our screens with a click of the mouse. What used to be reported in time frames of a day or several hours is now broadcasted via the World Wide Web in real time. The unfolding of these events allows millions of Internet users to become eyewitnesses to history.

Technological advances in communication via the Internet have added to the frenzy for faster means of expressing what we know and what we want others to know. Email, instant messaging, and blogging open up channels of communication that extend beyond borders, confound those who wish to control the flow of information and communication, and keep us updated on every possible matter.

The newest form of global communication, Twitter, provides another avenue of instant communication. Twitter is a remarkably simple application. Users publish their messages, called tweets, which are limited to 140 characters from a computer, cell phone, blackberry or other mobile device. As a network of communication, Twitter revolves around the need for followers. An individual sends out a tweet to 20 friends. They read it, and in turn return a comment. These tweets appear in reverse chronological order on the main Twitter page.

 

For example, an individual sends out a tweet to 50 friends telling them he ate Oatmeal and rye toast for breakfast. Those 50 friends send back other tweets describing their important news like new music downloads the weather in Bismarck, North Dakota, and the latest update on Madonna's adoption ordeal. Imagine, if you can, 50 teenagers all involved in the same telephone conversation, but each one speaking in turn, uninterrupted, and having the option to choose which one to listen to.

 

As with the blogging phenomena, Twitter gives many individuals an opportunity to voice ideas, decisions, and opinions without filters, and in some cases, without much thought. Like those devotees who follow a movie star's personal life in grocery store Tabloids, Twitter offers an escape from one's own reality by following that star's every decision, action, or feeling as he or she tweets them to the followers. It seems that many will spend hours avoiding what truly needs to get done.

 

But Twitter does offer something more substantial. It allows us to participate in meetings and engage in conversations that were once inaccessible but to a roomful of invited guests. In real time, real conversations appear on the screen in a global context. Participants at the meeting as well as those who are tweeting "hear" each other's comments as they scroll down the screen. It is as if there are microphones positioned around the globe with individual's offerings their viewpoints in ways they could never before imagined. Ultimately, their voice is heard.

 

Twitter fundamentally changes the rules of engagement. It adds a second layer of discussion transforming a private exchange into a public forum. More importantly, it offers a real opportunity for democratic participation for those who are not officially invited to a meeting or conference, but who, nonetheless, are able to engage in the discussion with Twitter.

 

Recently, the Government of Iran tried to cut off all forms of communication-the internet, cell phones, texting, etc- in an attempt to shut down the opposition protests over the outcome of its most recent election. Because of its 140-character limit, Twitter remained virtually undetected by government censors and those assigned to block Internet and other forms of communication. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Iranians received valuable information about police movement, the safety of loved ones and friends, and alternative rallying points throughout the city.

 

Like all technological innovations, Twitter is a balance between the utterly ridiculous (announcing to one's followers the brand of deodorant one uses) and the totally beneficial (participating in a local town or school board meeting). It would be a remarkable achievement if the Lansing Town Board or the School Board meeting heard from an additional 50 attendees at each session with a simple Tweet. And that is to the point.

 

 

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