Virtual Revolution

Questions for the documentary “Virtual Revolution” part 1, 2, and 3.

1.       The web is celebrated as the revolutionary technology that is great leveling of humanity creating equal opportunity, equal access, and equal potential. However, there are only a quarter of people on the earth who can use it. How do you explain the controversial argument here?

1.As mentioned in the beginning of the documentary, there are countries in Africa like Guan have finally been introduced to technology to convergence with the World Wide Web which was not available beforehand. They join the other 80 to 75 percent of the world who does not have access in the opportunities that society in the UK and the United States have because of funding for technology. The argument is that there’s an entire population that does not have access like the 2 billion because they lack the resources to do so. It’s our job as the 2 billion who are able to enable the Web to expand to everyone for the sake of knowledge we can all enrich.

2.       How is Wikipedia the best example to implement the leveling ideas of the Web rooted in the cultural revolution of 1960s, namely the Libertarianism in the counter culture? How does it explain some of the digital convergences?

2. In the 1960’s, there was a mixture of Left and Right-Winged ideas based of the status of the United States and the role our country plays in society. Within this period, humanity gained a sense of freewill which carried over years later during the early days of the internet which gave people a place to resent opinions, have their own views on controversial topics, and define oneself which led to the revolution that shaped what the internet is today.

3. How does the Web make it possible for different kinds of digital convergence?

The Women from Kenya was able to document the revolution and protest during their countries election and expand the struggle on a global stage which would not have been possible without the aid of digital convergence of combining traditional journalism with the internet using her site to share her voice.

4. How can the Internet become a challenge for traditional authority? Use the political landscape changes in some counties to illustrate your answer.

The internet challenges the amount of interaction we have when industries look to hire which hurt us but also advantage us by opening doors to a larger world so business are able to hire a professional in other country for the same job offered in the opposite country. Job opportunities have also open because of the internet because we live in an age when salary can be strictly based on what material you release to the public online (YouTube).  

5. Do you believe that getting information free can set us free eventually? Why or Why not? Do you see any concerns of the complete freedom or self-expression without limit on the Internet? Why or why not?

Wikipedia is an empowering search engine that is offered for free but the site serves as a search engine that anyone can edit or change without rehabilitate which can hurt our way of thinking. It also makes us dependable of one search engine when there are other resources outside the internet that we gain access to and in some cases are easier to access outside the 25 percent. Self expression is also halted because of privacy acts that prevent free expression on social media sites.  A message that could be seen as slander or racist can be flagged and taken down at the social media request  which limit the amount of power we have.

6. In traditional media communication, it has the “vertical” authority. In the Web communication, it becomes “horizontal?” How do you explain the change? How does this create the possibility for digital media convergence?

The idea of linking everything as one to be connected and the ability and ambition to have information, equal access from multiple sites has made our web communication more horizontal than the traditional vertical view which only enables one source. The possibility for digital media convergence is also open because the web has become a part of our daily life in the news (Newspapers offer free subscriptions as oppose to buying a traditional paper along with the news constantly updating for the user)

7. Why is that the Web is free critical for the success of the Web itself? How does that clash with the corporate business ideology? How does that pose challenges for copyright issues at the same time? What will happen if the Web is not free?

The World Wide Web is free access without the interference of the government. We have an entire network dedicated to the freedom to gain knowledge and make profit even if it means illegal ways (downloading music, movies, online books, etc) which interfaces with copyrights and limits our expression. If the media and content was not for free, I guarantee the 22 to 25 percent who use the internet would be significantly lower.