[ExI] Is the old internet dying?

BillK pharos at gmail.com
Mon Jul 20 09:14:07 UTC 2015


On 18 July 2015 at 13:41, Anders Sandberg  wrote:
<snip>
> But the concern in the essay is of course that it matters where a society
> does its mainstream discourse. If it happens in a forum that can easily be
> censored or biased, it becomes very different from if it is a hard-to-censor
> diverse environment. And if important digital identities are tied to your
> participation, then people become extra loath to speak up (if Google decided
> to delete my googlemail account for some arbitrary crime against usage
> policies, I would lose access to my calendar and numerous important
> services). The problem here is not technology, but simply that most people
> do not care deeply about these things (as well as privacy, accountability
> and other important but abstract things).
>


One point that resonated with me was his comparison of the new
internet to advert-swamped television.
Smartphones and tablets are designed for passive consumers.
Tap, swipe, read 140 characters, watch video clip, tap, Like, tap,
Share, tap, LOL, tap,...........
The new web is for gossip, celeb trivia, pop music, video clips and adverts.

Perhaps it will all change again in a few years time. But the concern
is that a generation that has grown up in this stream of trivia has
had their mindset permanently changed. Seeking novelty has replaced
thinking.


BillK



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