Month: March 2012

In today’s modern life, people are so accustomed to using the Internet and taking information for granted. We have been so use to these technologies that it has become ‘ordinary’ and we forget what it is like without it. In the book, “Here Comes Everybody,” in chapter 6, it reminds us how the Internet is a knowledgeable experience. It creates a global organization that is easier for group communications.

As the book mention about the Geoghan case back in 1960s, where the priest sexually abused more than a hundred boys, the response and results they got from people were temporary due to the lack of spreading the message and getting the words out. This reminds me of a case I had to research on for an art class back in 2010. A couple in England, Myra Hindley and Ian Brady back in 1960s, kidnapped, rapped, and killed children. This was known as the Moors murderer case. The case became so popular in England that the woman, Myra Hindley became the #1 most evil woman in Britain. But yet, no one else outside of Britain had heard about this case. If it wasn’t for the Internet, information like this couldn’t have been so widespread. Bringing back the Kony 2012 movement, the Internet and social media plays a huge part in getting people aware and active; otherwise no one would know what is happening in Uganda. It was not until 2002, when the Geoghan case and Porter case became widespread because the Globe finally started to publish their articles online.

The Internet created a society where spreading messages became effortless, removing all barriers and problems with locality. The exposure and distribution of information is so easy and instant, that we know what is happening from anywhere and anytime. I can’t be anymore grateful of the lifestyle that we all live in today, sending message doesn’t have to be one-to-one anymore, communicating with one another is much easier and flexible than ever before.

While reading “Here Comes Everybody,” Ivanna’s lost phone and how her friend Evan, uses social media and the communities to gather help reminds me of the Invisible Children. Invisible Children created a film and campaign called KONY 2012 to make Joseph Kony famous to raise support to arrest him. The film was about kids in Uganda who ran for their lives. They were scared of being abducted by the Rebels, also known as the LRA. The leader of the LRA is Joseph Kony. They would take children and force them to kill their own parents and made girls as sex slaves. Just like in the story when Ivanna loses her phone and makes a claim to the NYPD, which was not helpful to her, the government did not do anything to help stop the matter in Uganda. So like Evan, the Invisible Children took matters on to their own hand. The Invisible Children started a community on Facebook and is also trying to get celebrities and politicians to help spread Joseph Kony’s name and make him famous. What Evan and Invisible Children were able to do was not possible 5-10 years ago. Social media has changed so much that our world revolves around it. It helps increase visibility and for messages to spread. Social media gathers people together and allows us the simplest way to share works with other, creating a communally available resource.

 

Spread the words,

http://s3.amazonaws.com/kony2012/kony-4.html

We will change history!