I was really interested in the essay written by Andrew O’Baoill. I think that he brought to light some very obviously-unobvious
facts and opinions about the effect of bloggers on the public. Now, there are many positives about being
involved in a public, online debate. In
the eyes of the internet community, all bloggers are equal and no controversial
topics are too taboo for discussion. If
you present yourself as an eloquent and rational debater, your blog may be
tagged for regular viewing. O’Baoill indicates
that anyone with minimal technological skills, some free time and some
financial funding has the potential of being a big-time blogger (O’Baoill,
para. 3). The most challenging part is
researching and reading all sides to an argument to put together a formidable
plan or discussion with valuable evidence.
The unfortunately side effect of this all is that the divide between
people active and inactive in politics will grow substantially. O’Baoill
identified that “24% of American’s have direct or indirect experience with the
internet…Internet population is younger, wealthier and more educated than the
offline population” (O’Baoill, Para. 7).
Some people eve chose to become professional bloggers, which sounds ludicrous
to me, but if you can make a living off of starting insightful discussions,
then more power to you. I think that oftentimes
bloggers hope to raise money to do it full-time but can’t make enough to make
ends meet.
I was speaking to one my students a few weeks ago and he said
that he had a random piece of information for me; that Helen Keller did
LSD. My co-worker and I were confused on
what he was talking about, but he was adamant that he had read it on the
internet so it had to be true. Well, it
took him a half hour to find what he was talking about… (this picture was his proof)
We had to have a nice long
conversation with him about how to tell if things are fake or not on the
internet. Good or bad, LSD was
around/invented while Helen Keller was alive, but we couldn’t find anything saying
that she actually did it. Just that she
made a joke about it, maybe…if she even did.
O’Baoill touched on this when he said, “The importance placed by many
weblogs on breaking news not only leads to greater risks of false information
being published but, given the layout of weblogs, can foreshorten debates” (O’Baoill,
Para. 14). We see it all too often,
people getting into heated debates online, and since many people are
argumentative by nature things get out of hand.
Arguments explode and things get messy.
In paragraph 21 O’Baoill mentioned that a plus side of blogging is that
it is a way for oppressed cultures and individuals to expose the conditions
that they are living in. People in Iraq
and Syria have been posting things about their totalitarian regimes for years,
until censorships have been placed on their internet access. It still happens, but it is more difficult
and dangerous for them to post.
Sometimes we don't think about all of the wonderful opportunities we have, and how lucky we are to just have access to the vast amount of knowledge that is available on the internet. I think that we take it for granted at times, and thinking about the people who are using it to express their personal concerns and tragedies (domestic or foreign) is inspirational.
Refrences:
I really enjoyed the Helen Keller on LSD post. This is the point I made on earlier blogs, information must be evaluated. I'm glad that you are pointing out to your students the need to evaluate and that not everything on the internet is valid.
ReplyDeleteI also think you brought up a great point from O'Baoill: the divide between the people active and inactive in politics will grow." I hope that with the ease of accessibility, more students will get involved or at least informed about politics. This is similar to voting practices in our country. Women and minorities had to fight for the right to vote. Too many Americans do not exercise the right to vote. I have some students who do not vote and I ask why. The general answers are: my vote doesn't count and I'm not interested in politics. But I see you ended it on a optimistic note: people who are using to express personal concerns and tragedies is inspirational. Nice touch.
Nichole,
ReplyDeleteGood post. Blogging, twitting, Facebook post, and all the other ways to share information in cyberspace are good ways to share information and provide an avenue to have open discussion on topics. But what I think most people forget is that what they release in cyberspace can have an impact on them in the real-world. As a member of the military there are certain things I am restrict from discussing in public that I can talk about in my own private residence. The problem comes – if while in my residence I include myself in a discussion online about something I shouldn’t give my opinion on in public. Now, I can try to hide behind anonymity but nothing is truly hidden in cyberspace. So it becomes a battle of what I consider should be my right to free speech versus my employer morality or behavior clauses.
Very informative posts! Derek---- I think many people fail to understand that their opinions or behavior expressed online can impact them. However, as you mentioned, it becomes a battle between free speech and how opinions or posts may be perceived by others. Nicole makes a great point about bloggers in Syria, Iran, and other oppressed countries. Blogging gives a voice to those who previously had very little or no way to express themselves before. However, oppressive governments and tyrannical leaders could make life difficult for those expressing contentious viewpoints.
ReplyDeleteAlbert---I think you make an interesting point. While students are becoming more involved in the political process, through blogs, remix culture, and social media, is this translating into voting? It is almost as though they are revolutionizing the way political messages are getting out to their demographic, but that last and most important step (voting) is not being taken.
Hi Nicole,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your post ...for a couple of reasons. First because it was one of the most interesting articles out of our required readings and secondly because of your Helen Keller analogy. The Helen Keller really took the cake. It was the perfect example of how the internet can disseminate information whether truth or not. Perhaps there as some truth to the Helen Keller statement, but we do not have proof of it and the student took it literally because he 'saw it on the internet'. So funny, one time we were in Disney World and my kids (at the time they were 13 & 7) and the guy at the Time Share place should us a picture of his wife ,,, it was totally a glamor shot and he said she was from another country... from that day on my kids said and it is still a standing joke in this house: "he met her on the internet!"
I appreciated how you wrote about other cultures who are stifled and forbidden to speak out about the conditions in their culture and country. Although it struck a nerve with me while I was reading it, I didn't really touch upon it. To some degree, I wish our country censored us a bit more, yet I am the first one who says 'Big Brother needs to mind their own business,,," I believe that there should be more censorship for hate crimes and laws to protect our youth to try to police the bullying before kids either take their own lives or turn to the dark side feeling they are not worth anything.
We are combatting many outside influences and it is hard to block a tool that is so useful to our progression and education but at what expense?
Great post!
Lori