There is history being made today with the new technology and the new culture it is creating. The new technology is the digital computer, created by the blueprint of the distributed network, which caused the management system of protocol. Many people believe that this new culture created by the network, computer, and protocol is creating something entirely new that we have never seen before. What this introduction is show that in a way this is new with the way that it is changing language. Galloway shows a genealogy of sorts for the word "protocol". What is also interesting is the way things stay the same. Though words are changing as they always do and cultures as well, it is no different than any other technological advance and cultural shift throughout history. Throughout every change, people do the same things as they always have. The most obvious of these things is the mob mentality as well as the crowd mentality. What these changes have done just make the mob collect on the internet rather than a protest or a riot. The internet hasn't eliminated the protest or the riot, but has added new avenues. There is also the aspect of the crowd where people can flock to support something or someone as well as be marketed to. The internet has only changed people insofar as it made the world smaller and made it easier for people to connect and participate in mobs or crowds. There are, of course, many more aspects to such a large cultural shift.
The way this new technology works is through distribution, which is completely new as there is no central power. In the past societies and their technologies had worked through centralization and decentralization; both of these have one or more central powers. Distribution works like roadways, which are not new and have been the main routes for trade for millennia. The places that traded were not distribution, but were decentralized in most places and sometimes centralized. You could even see hints of distribution in ancient Roman cities, which were set up in grids and allowed for easy access.
I am intrgued by your ideas about change. Is what you're saying with your first paragraph that changes happen but changes are all the same general idea? I always thought that perhaps the concept of what change is doesn't change and that is why people think that overall nothing really ever changes. Basically, humans are so adaptable that change isn't necessarilly something that is noticed even though it really does happen. Your ideas about mobs/crowds is also very interesting. I have the mentality that the internet has actually made people less connected when it comes to the types of things people become mobs about. However, you have made me think that maybe it isn't necessarily that way and that maybe people being more connected has caused us to participate in mobs about things that don't matter as much because we can.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you chose to write a bit about the mob.
ReplyDelete"What these changes have done just make the mob collect on the internet rather than a protest or a riot."
This is really close to a thesis of my own: the popular social media applications on the internet are like a release valve. When tensions are high, like in the case of Ferguson, Baltimore, etc, people often take to the street and protest. Though, perhaps it's the case that the internet is a place to unload those tensions before they reach that tipping point. For example, someone unloads all of their stressed out feelings on twitter or a blog rather than turn that stress into physical action.
Of course, protests still exist, but maybe to a lesser extent?
I'm glad you chose to write a bit about the mob.
ReplyDelete"What these changes have done just make the mob collect on the internet rather than a protest or a riot."
This is really close to a thesis of my own: the popular social media applications on the internet are like a release valve. When tensions are high, like in the case of Ferguson, Baltimore, etc, people often take to the street and protest. Though, perhaps it's the case that the internet is a place to unload those tensions before they reach that tipping point. For example, someone unloads all of their stressed out feelings on twitter or a blog rather than turn that stress into physical action.
Of course, protests still exist, but maybe to a lesser extent?