No subject
Wed Jan 21 14:27:03 CET 2015
=80=99s,
for the overwhelming majority of the planet=E2=80=99s population, the close=
st we
came to writing in a public forum were the very few of us who ever bothered
to write a letter to the editor. A tiny, tiny fraction of the population
were authors or journalists who had a public forum that way on an
occasional or a regular basis, depending. Some people wrote up the
pre-internet equivalent of an annual Christmas-time blog post which they
photocopied and sent around to a few dozen friends and relatives.
In the 1960s there was a massive flowering of independent, =E2=80=9Cundergr=
ound=E2=80=9D
press in towns and cities across the US and other countries. There was a
vastly increased diversity of views and information that could be easily
accessed by anyone who lived near a university and could walk to a news
stand and had an extra few cents to spend.
In the 1990s, with the development of the internet =E2=80=93 websites, emai=
l lists
=E2=80=93 there was an explosion of communication that made the underground=
press
of the 60=E2=80=99s pale in comparison. Most people in places like the US
virtually stopped using phones (to actually talk on), from my experience.
Many people who never wrote letters or much of anything else started using
computers and writing emails to each other, and even to multiple people at
once.
Those very few of us who were in the habit in the pre-internet era of
sending around regular newsletters featuring our writing, our thoughts, our
list of upcoming gigs, products or services we were trying to sell, etc.,
were thrilled with the advent of email, and the ability to send our
newsletters out so easily, without spending a fortune on postage stamps,
without spending so much time stuffing envelopes. For a brief period of
time, we had access to the same audience, the same readers we had before,
but now we could communicate with them virtually for free.
This, for many of us, was the internet=E2=80=99s golden age =E2=80=93 1995-=
2005 or so.
There was the increasing problem of spam of various sorts. Like junk mail,
only more of it. Spam filters started getting better, and largely
eliminated that problem for most of us.
The listservs that most of us bothered to read were moderated announcements
lists. The websites we used the most were interactive, but moderated, such
as Indymedia. In cities throughout the world, big and small, there were
local Indymedia collectives. Anyone could post stuff, but there were
actual people deciding whether it should get published, and if so, where.
As with any collective decision-making process, this was challenging, but
many of us felt it was a challenge that was worth the effort. As a result
of these moderated listservs and moderated Indymedia sites, we all had an
unprecedented ability to find out about and discuss ideas and events that
were taking place in our cities, our countries, our world.
Then came blogging, and social media. Every individual with a blog,
Facebook page, Twitter account, etc., became their own individual
broadcaster. It=E2=80=99s intoxicating, isn=E2=80=99t it? Knowing that yo=
u have a global
audience of dozens or hundreds, maybe thousands of people (if you=E2=80=99r=
e famous
to begin with, or something goes viral) every time you post something.
Being able to have conversations in the comments sections with people from
around the world who will never physically meet each other. Amazing,
really.
But then most people stopped listening. Most people stopped visiting
Indymedia. Indymedia died, globally, for the most part. Newspapers =E2=80=
=93
right, left and center =E2=80=93 closed, and are closing, whether offline o=
r online
ones. Listservs stopped existing. Algorithms replaced moderators. People
generally began to think of librarians as an antiquated phenomenon.
Now, in Portland, Oregon, one of the most politically plugged-in cities in
the US, there is no listserv or website you can go to that will tell you
what is happening in the city in any kind of readable, understandable
format. There are different groups with different websites, Facebook
pages, listservs, etc., but nothing for the progressive community as a
whole. Nothing functional, anyway. Nothing that approaches the
functionality of the announcements lists that existed in cities and states
throughout the country 15 years ago.
Because of the technical limitations of the internet for a brief period of
time, there was for a few years a happy medium found between a small elite
providing most of the written content that most people in the world read,
and the situation we now find ourselves in, drowning in Too Much
Information, most of it meaningless drivel, white noise, fog that prevents
you from seeing anywhere further than the low beams can illuminate at a
given time.
It was a golden age, but for the most part an accidental one, and a very
brief one. As it became easy for people to start up a website, a blog, a
Myspace or Facebook page, to post updates, etc., the new age of noise
began, inevitably, the natural evolution of the technology.
And most people didn=E2=80=99t notice that it happened.
Why do I say that? First of all, I didn=E2=80=99t just come up with this s=
hit.
I=E2=80=99ve been talking to a lot of people for many years, and a lot of p=
eople
think social media is the best thing since sliced bread. And why shouldn=
=E2=80=99t
they?
The bottom line is, there=E2=80=99s no reason most people would have had oc=
casion
to notice that the internet died, because they weren=E2=80=99t content prov=
iders
(as we call authors, artists, musicians, journalists, organizers, public
speakers, teachers, etc. these days) in the pre-internet age or during the
first decade or so of the internet as a popular phenomenon. And if you
weren=E2=80=99t a content provider back then, why would you know that anyth=
ing
changed?
I and others like me know =E2=80=93 because the people who used to read and=
respond
to stuff I sent out on my email list aren=E2=80=99t there anymore. They do=
n=E2=80=99t open
the emails anymore, and if they do, they don=E2=80=99t read them. And it d=
oesn=E2=80=99t
matter what medium I use =E2=80=93 blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Of course=
some
people do, but most people are now doing other things.
What are they doing? I spent most of last week in Tokyo, going all over
town, spending hours each day on the trains. Most people sitting in the
trains back during my first visit to Japan in 2007 were sleeping, as they
are now. But those who weren=E2=80=99t sleeping, seven years ago, were alm=
ost all
reading books. Now, there=E2=80=99s hardly a book to be seen. Most people=
are
looking at their phones. And they=E2=80=99re not reading books on their ph=
ones.
(Yes, I peeked. A lot.) They=E2=80=99re playing games or, more often, loo=
king at
their Facebook =E2=80=9Cnews feeds.=E2=80=9D And it=E2=80=99s the same in =
the US and everywhere
else that I have occasion to travel to.
Is it worth it to replace moderators with algorithms? Editors with white
noise? Investigative journalists with pictures of your cat? Independent
record labels and community radio stations with a multitude of
badly-recorded podcasts? Independent Media Center collectives with a
million Facebook updates and Twitter feeds?
I think not. But that=E2=80=99s where we=E2=80=99re at. How do we get out=
of this
situation, and clear the fog, and use our brains again? I wish I knew.
*David Rovics is a singer/songwriter based in Portland, Oregon.*
--=20
Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at:
http://en.wiki.floksociety.org/w/Research_Plan
P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net
<http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Update=
s:
http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens
#82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/
--001a1134929ebc9d0a050fb03f3f
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Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
<div dir=3D"ltr"><span style=3D"font-size:12.8000001907349px">(all at=C2=A0=
</span><i style=3D"font-size:12.8000001907349px">Counterpunch)<br><br></i><=
span style=3D"font-size:12.8000001907349px">(The excellent singer David Rov=
ics laments: "In the 1990s, with the development of the internet =E2=
=80=93 websites, email lists =E2=80=93 there was an explosion of communicat=
ion that made the underground press of the 60=E2=80=99s pale in comparison.=
=C2=A0 Most people in places like the US virtually stopped using phones (to=
actually talk on), from my experience.=C2=A0 Many people who never wrote l=
etters or much of anything else started using computers and writing emails =
to each other, and even to multiple people at once. Those very few of us wh=
o were in the habit in the pre-internet era of sending around regular newsl=
etters featuring our writing, our thoughts, our list of upcoming gigs, prod=
ucts or services we were trying to sell, etc., were thrilled with the adven=
t of email, and the ability to send our newsletters out so easily, without =
spending a fortune on postage stamps, without spending so much time stuffin=
g envelopes.=C2=A0 For a brief period of time, we had access to the same au=
dience, the same readers we had before, but now we could communicate with t=
hem virtually for free. This, for many of us, was the internet=E2=80=99s go=
lden age =E2=80=93 1995-2005 or so.")</span><br style=3D"font-size:12.=
8000001907349px"><br style=3D"font-size:12.8000001907349px"><i style=3D"fon=
t-size:12.8000001907349px"><br></i><font size=3D"-1"><div>Death by Ten Bill=
ion Status Updates</div><h1>How Facebook Killed the Internet</h1><div>by DA=
VID ROVICS</div><div><p>Facebook killed the internet, and I=E2=80=99m prett=
y sure that the vast majority of people didn=E2=80=99t even notice.</p><p>I=
can see the look on many of your faces, and hear the thoughts.=C2=A0=C2=A0=
<i>Someone=E2=80=99s complaining about Facebook again.=C2=A0 Yes, I know it=
=E2=80=99s a massive corporation, but it=E2=80=99s the platform we=E2=80=99=
re all using.=C2=A0 It=E2=80=99s like complaining about Starbucks.=C2=A0 Af=
ter all the independent cafes have been driven out of town and you=E2=80=99=
re an espresso addict, what to do?=C2=A0 What do you mean =E2=80=9Ckilled=
=E2=80=9D?=C2=A0 What was killed?</i></p><p>I=E2=80=99ll try to explain.=C2=
=A0 I=E2=80=99ll start by saying that I don=E2=80=99t know what the solutio=
n is.=C2=A0 But I think any solution has to start with solidly identifying =
the nature of the problem.</p><p>First of all, Facebook killed the internet=
, but if it wasn=E2=80=99t Facebook, it would have been something else.=C2=
=A0 The evolution of social media was probably as inevitable as the develop=
ment of cell phones that could surf the internet.=C2=A0 It was the natural =
direction for the internet to go in.</p><p>Which is why it=E2=80=99s so esp=
ecially disturbing.=C2=A0 Because the solution is not Znet or Ello.=C2=A0 T=
he solution is not better social media, better algorithms, or social media =
run by a nonprofit rather than a multibillion-dollar corporation.=C2=A0 Jus=
t as the solution to the social alienation caused by everybody having their=
own private car is not more electric vehicles.=C2=A0 Just as the solution =
to the social alienation caused by everyone having their own cell phone to =
stare at is not a collectively-owned phone company.</p><p>Many people from =
the grassroots to the elites are thrilled about the social media phenomenon=
.=C2=A0 Surely some of the few people who will read this are among them.=C2=
=A0 We throw around phrases like =E2=80=9CFacebook revolution=E2=80=9D and =
we hail these new internet platforms that are bringing people together all =
over the world.=C2=A0 And I=E2=80=99m not suggesting they don=E2=80=99t hav=
e their various bright sides.=C2=A0 Nor am I suggesting you should stop usi=
ng social media platforms, including Facebook.=C2=A0 That would be like tel=
ling someone in Texas they should bike to work, when the whole infrastructu=
re of every city in the state is built for sports utility vehicles.</p><p>B=
ut we should understand the nature of what is happening to us.</p><p>From t=
he time that newspapers became commonplace up until the early=C2=A0<a href=
=3D"tel:1990" value=3D"+661990" target=3D"_blank">1990</a>=E2=80=99s, for t=
he overwhelming majority of the planet=E2=80=99s population, the closest we=
came to writing in a public forum were the very few of us who ever bothere=
d to write a letter to the editor.=C2=A0 A tiny, tiny fraction of the popul=
ation were authors or journalists who had a public forum that way on an occ=
asional or a regular basis, depending.=C2=A0 Some people wrote up the pre-i=
nternet equivalent of an annual Christmas-time blog post which they photoco=
pied and sent around to a few dozen friends and relatives.</p><p>In the 196=
0s there was a massive flowering of independent, =E2=80=9Cunderground=E2=80=
=9D press in towns and cities across the US and other countries.=C2=A0 Ther=
e was a vastly increased diversity of views and information that could be e=
asily accessed by anyone who lived near a university and could walk to a ne=
ws stand and had an extra few cents to spend.</p><p>In the 1990s, with the =
development of the internet =E2=80=93 websites, email lists =E2=80=93 there=
was an explosion of communication that made the underground press of the 6=
0=E2=80=99s pale in comparison.=C2=A0 Most people in places like the US vir=
tually stopped using phones (to actually talk on), from my experience.=C2=
=A0 Many people who never wrote letters or much of anything else started us=
ing computers and writing emails to each other, and even to multiple people=
at once.</p><p>Those very few of us who were in the habit in the pre-inter=
net era of sending around regular newsletters featuring our writing, our th=
oughts, our list of upcoming gigs, products or services we were trying to s=
ell, etc., were thrilled with the advent of email, and the ability to send =
our newsletters out so easily, without spending a fortune on postage stamps=
, without spending so much time stuffing envelopes.=C2=A0 For a brief perio=
d of time, we had access to the same audience, the same readers we had befo=
re, but now we could communicate with them virtually for free.</p><p>This, =
for many of us, was the internet=E2=80=99s golden age =E2=80=93 1995-2005 o=
r so.=C2=A0 There was the increasing problem of spam of various sorts.=C2=
=A0 Like junk mail, only more of it.=C2=A0 Spam filters started getting bet=
ter, and largely eliminated that problem for most of us.</p><p>The listserv=
s that most of us bothered to read were moderated announcements lists.=C2=
=A0 The websites we used the most were interactive, but moderated, such as =
Indymedia.=C2=A0 In cities throughout the world, big and small, there were =
local Indymedia collectives.=C2=A0 Anyone could post stuff, but there were =
actual people deciding whether it should get published, and if so, where.=
=C2=A0 As with any collective decision-making process, this was challenging=
, but many of us felt it was a challenge that was worth the effort.=C2=A0 A=
s a result of these moderated listservs and moderated Indymedia sites, we a=
ll had an unprecedented ability to find out about and discuss ideas and eve=
nts that were taking place in our cities, our countries, our world.</p><p>T=
hen came blogging, and social media.=C2=A0 Every individual with a blog, Fa=
cebook page, Twitter account, etc., became their own individual broadcaster=
.=C2=A0 It=E2=80=99s intoxicating, isn=E2=80=99t it?=C2=A0 Knowing that you=
have a global audience of dozens or hundreds, maybe thousands of people (i=
f you=E2=80=99re famous to begin with, or something goes viral) every time =
you post something.=C2=A0 Being able to have conversations in the comments =
sections with people from around the world who will never physically meet e=
ach other.=C2=A0 Amazing, really.</p><p>But then most people stopped listen=
ing.=C2=A0 Most people stopped visiting Indymedia.=C2=A0 Indymedia died, gl=
obally, for the most part.=C2=A0 Newspapers =E2=80=93 right, left and cente=
r =E2=80=93 closed, and are closing, whether offline or online ones.=C2=A0 =
Listservs stopped existing.=C2=A0 Algorithms replaced moderators.=C2=A0 Peo=
ple generally began to think of librarians as an antiquated phenomenon.</p>=
<p>Now, in Portland, Oregon, one of the most politically plugged-in cities =
in the US, there is no listserv or website you can go to that will tell you=
what is happening in the city in any kind of readable, understandable form=
at.=C2=A0 There are different groups with different websites, Facebook page=
s, listservs, etc., but nothing for the progressive community as a whole.=
=C2=A0 Nothing functional, anyway.=C2=A0 Nothing that approaches the functi=
onality of the announcements lists that existed in cities and states throug=
hout the country 15 years ago.</p><p>Because of the technical limitations o=
f the internet for a brief period of time, there was for a few years a happ=
y medium found between a small elite providing most of the written content =
that most people in the world read, and the situation we now find ourselves=
in, drowning in Too Much Information, most of it meaningless drivel, white=
noise, fog that prevents you from seeing anywhere further than the low bea=
ms can illuminate at a given time.</p><p>It was a golden age, but for the m=
ost part an accidental one, and a very brief one.=C2=A0 As it became easy f=
or people to start up a website, a blog, a Myspace or Facebook page, to pos=
t updates, etc., the new age of noise began, inevitably, the natural evolut=
ion of the technology.</p><p>And most people didn=E2=80=99t notice that it =
happened.</p><p>Why do I say that?=C2=A0 First of all, I didn=E2=80=99t jus=
t come up with this shit.=C2=A0 I=E2=80=99ve been talking to a lot of peopl=
e for many years, and a lot of people think social media is the best thing =
since sliced bread.=C2=A0 And why shouldn=E2=80=99t they?</p><p>The bottom =
line is, there=E2=80=99s no reason most people would have had occasion to n=
otice that the internet died, because they weren=E2=80=99t content provider=
s (as we call authors, artists, musicians, journalists, organizers, public =
speakers, teachers, etc. these days) in the pre-internet age or during the =
first decade or so of the internet as a popular phenomenon.=C2=A0 And if yo=
u weren=E2=80=99t a content provider back then, why would you know that any=
thing changed?</p><p>I and others like me know =E2=80=93 because the people=
who used to read and respond to stuff I sent out on my email list aren=E2=
=80=99t there anymore.=C2=A0 They don=E2=80=99t open the emails anymore, an=
d if they do, they don=E2=80=99t read them.=C2=A0 And it doesn=E2=80=99t ma=
tter what medium I use =E2=80=93 blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc.=C2=A0 Of cou=
rse some people do, but most people are now doing other things.</p><p>What =
are they doing?=C2=A0 I spent most of last week in Tokyo, going all over to=
wn, spending hours each day on the trains.=C2=A0 Most people sitting in the=
trains back during my first visit to Japan in 2007 were sleeping, as they =
are now.=C2=A0 But those who weren=E2=80=99t sleeping, seven years ago, wer=
e almost all reading books.=C2=A0 Now, there=E2=80=99s hardly a book to be =
seen.=C2=A0 Most people are looking at their phones.=C2=A0 And they=E2=80=
=99re not reading books on their phones.=C2=A0 (Yes, I peeked.=C2=A0 A lot.=
)=C2=A0 They=E2=80=99re playing games or, more often, looking at their Face=
book =E2=80=9Cnews feeds.=E2=80=9D=C2=A0 And it=E2=80=99s the same in the U=
S and everywhere else that I have occasion to travel to.</p><p>Is it worth =
it to replace moderators with algorithms?=C2=A0 Editors with white noise?=
=C2=A0 Investigative journalists with pictures of your cat?=C2=A0 Independe=
nt record labels and community radio stations with a multitude of badly-rec=
orded podcasts?=C2=A0 Independent Media Center collectives with a million F=
acebook updates and Twitter feeds?</p><p>I think not.=C2=A0 But that=E2=80=
=99s where we=E2=80=99re at.=C2=A0 How do we get out of this situation, and=
clear the fog, and use our brains again?=C2=A0 I wish I knew.</p><p><i><b>=
David Rovics</b>=C2=A0is a singer/songwriter based in Portland, Oregon.</i>=
</p></div></font><div><br></div>-- <br><div class=3D"gmail_signature"><div =
dir=3D"ltr"><div>Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at:=C2=A0<a hre=
f=3D"http://en.wiki.floksociety.org/w/Research_Plan" target=3D"_blank">http=
://en.wiki.floksociety.org/w/Research_Plan</a>=C2=A0</div><div><br></div>P2=
P Foundation: <a href=3D"http://p2pfoundation.net" target=3D"_blank">http:/=
/p2pfoundation.net</a>=C2=A0 - <a href=3D"http://blog.p2pfoundation.net" ta=
rget=3D"_blank">http://blog.p2pfoundation.net</a> <br><br><a href=3D"http:/=
/lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation" target=3D"_b=
lank"></a>Updates: <a href=3D"http://twitter.com/mbauwens" target=3D"_blank=
">http://twitter.com/mbauwens</a>; <a href=3D"http://www.facebook.com/mbauw=
ens" target=3D"_blank">http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens</a><br><br>#82 on t=
he (En)Rich list: <a href=3D"http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/" targ=
et=3D"_blank">http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/</a> <br></div></div>
</div>
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