The anniversary of Sept 11 this week got me thinking about how far we’ve come with the use of web 2.0 tools and methods for sharing information in only seven years.
Back then, I think the media coverage was measured by how quickly organisations could update their web pages, capture and show film footage and photos, and locate people to interview. Blogs and YouTube weren’t yet mainstream, sure there were some newsgroups and forums but I suppose most people turned to the tv and other mainstream media for their information.
Imagine if a similarly significant event happened today - using web 2.0 tools people could post updates on presence awareness tools such as twitter, send photos and videos from their mobile phones to flickr, youtube and so on, and share their feelings in social networking groups and blogs. And get newsfeeds on their mobiles.
News coverage would truly be by the masses. Our record of history would definitely be different - no longer just the “official” (read govt-endorsed, corporate funded) version of events but made up of real stories covered by real people who were in various ways a real part of the event. A social version.
A pretty big difference in a short amount of time.
Imagine back to other significant events, earlier in our world history - the end of world war 2, say.
And imagine how different the coverage and information sharing about future major events will be. Once mobile connectivity is more reliable.
Add A Comment
Enter this code