Just like chimps, we human have always been social creatures, and we need each other to survive. Unlike chimps, we have larger, longer lived, more complex, more ordered groups comparing to them. With new technologies, we developed new ways of group-forming which makes tasks from impossible to simple.
The importance of group effect is profound in almost every aspect of our lives. The cost incurred by creating a new group or joining an existing have fallen drastically in recent years. We now have communications tools that are flexible enough to match our social capabilities. People get together online to do different stuff everywhere. We find phones, write wikis, and join a Mermaid Parade in Coney Island together.
Flicker completely changed the way people communicate with each other. It creates this “share, then gather” paradigm. It promotes togetherness and develope many conversations. It speaks out when traditional media were being silenced.
To me, it is amazing how people utilize social medias nowadays. The microblog “Weibo” in China speaks out for many people. Half of a month ago, one salon employee posted a video about a foreigner in Beijing who was trying to rape a Chinese girl right in the middle of the street. It was late at night, the employee used his camera phone recorded from the beginning where the convict tried rape the girl, until the end where he got beat up by three people and was taken by the police. Many people were shocked by this video and cried for justice. Two weeks later, the Beijing municipal government started to make all foreigners in Beijing to show their valid ID and passports in order to stay in the capital, and it is all because of this video.
It’s really interesting because I haven’t really paid any attention to Flickr til this class and I find it so interesting to see how it works. I might even sign up for it soon.