What the Internet has Done Right
I once read somewhere or the other speculating that had Hitler risen in an age where the internet had existed, WWII would not have happened.
If you don't live under a rock, you've most definitely heard about the KONY2012 campaign, the controversy around SOPA/PIPA, and other social media issues.
The internet has replaced books, telephones, snail mail as the predominant method of information and communication. However, is this a good thing? In the past year or so there has been a substantial increase in the usage of the internet not only in spreading celebrity gossip (see Justin Beiber, naked photos of celebrities) but also in politics and world issues. For the first time, candidates running for office needed to have a strong presence on social media sites (see Barack Obama).
Kony2012 I think is a perfect illustration of the power of the internet. Initially it started off as a video that attempted to pull at people's heartstrings with a bunch of meaningless scenes of the dude's baby boy and how he wanted him to grow up in a good world. It talked about the evils that this Kony man had done. And it spread across North America faster than lightning.
There were those that supported the campaign to bring down Kony. Those that would have been the ones out on the street plastering the internet purchased posters all over their town. Then came the "sober second thoughts". The ones to bring up the questionable-ness of the charity's financial and other background. The ones to say that it's wrong for Americans to step into the affairs of other countries and apply our ideals. The ones to mention that this is really a non-issue, that Kony is long since out of Uganda.
The internet has evolved into a forum for world issues. I think this example is one that proves how useful the internet can be in uniting the world's thoughts and to allow us to speak as one. Nobody in American politics could have ignored the rise of this video, and believe me, probably a campaign team was investigating public opinion on the issue and debating on what stance to take. Kony2012 has shown us that the internet isn't a mindless mass that follows whatever trend, it can become a forum where ideas are discussed, the pros/cons and different aspects of the issues are dissected and a reasonable decision is made.
