Previous entries have focused on identities, on how on we create ourselves through New Media. But what we create by having this controllable identity is something that has not yet been discussed – power. We empower ourselves by creating our online personas, and we challenge powers higher than ourselves with user-driven content.
The concept of power through social media is currently exploding through the world, and many organizations are attempting to harness this power of sheer numbers. Through the change of the communication model to a user to user model, New Media made possible inspiring displays of humanity that simply would not have been possible through mediums such as television, and governments and corporations around the world are struggling to keep up with the concept of having no single person or organization to hold accountable. The spotlight has been shone on this with the recent media explosion of Julian Assange, who quotes, “What does censorship reveal? It reveals fear”. Clay Shirky has good reasons for those holding onto power though censorship, giving examples of mass protest rallies being formed via text messages, Facebook and Twitter (2011).
Recent uproar over the proposed Internet censor in Australia proves that we value our power, our voices. A voice can last much longer than a political party or a corporation, if that voice can reach the world. How does it do that? Media.
To read more about the proposed internet filter, check out http://nocleanfeed.com/
Or check out this YouTube clip as a direct and inspiring example of how New Media has rallied Australians this week. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvOrTnvSSuo
Assange, J. 2010. Taken from http://hubpages.com/hub/Julian-Assange-Quotes accessed march 24, 2011.
Shirky, C. (2011). The Political Power of Social Media: Technology, the Public Sphere, and Political Change in Foreign Affairs. Volume 90, Issue 1; pg. 28, 15 pgs. Accessed March 24, 2011 https://qutvirtual2.qut.edu.au/portal/pls/portal/olt_material_search_p?p_unit_code=KCB206
