Hi guys, I'm back. I know it's been way too long, but I've really decided to start taking this blogging thing a bit more serious.
Anyway, last week I read a terribly uninteresting article in Bloomberg Business Week titled "The Kids Are Not All Right". This article was also advertised on the cover of the magazine with a half-assed picture of angry Egyptians protesting in the streets. I was a bit frustrated by the whole thing from the catchy front cover to the lousy ending line.
The author starts off by admitting the role played by facebook and other social networking sites in revolution for the Middle East but, somehow, ends by discrediting the whole movement. He emphasized the drive of the people over the internet as the main influence, which I took as some sort of accusatory stance on those who fully recognize the important influence internet had/has in fighting oppression. My immediate reaction, you ask? Duh! Of course the internet would be nothing without it's users! Any fan of the cult classic movie Tron could understand that concept.
What he fails to recognize is in oppressive authoritarian countries assembling at the local coffee shop was not exactly an option. Nor is it as effective in today's internet driven society. At the end of the piece he finishes with this cynical statement: "After all, reading is just reading."
I find it strange that a journalist would ever end an article in such a way. The fact is I could have written the exact same article about the printing press in the 1400s. But would I ever dream of calling it's impact small? Absolutely not! The internet will forever be known as my generation's printing press, and although Bloomberg doesn't like the competition of alternative news sources, they may find themselves caught in their own propaganda one day when the internet puts them in their place. Who knows? Maybe it already has.
