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Geist lauds Net as activist tool

MATT HARTLEY

Globe and Mail Update

Latest comment posted at 1:46 PM EDT 22/05/08

University of Ottawa professor and digital activist outlines ways social media sites are increasingly being used to disseminate messages of advocacy across the globe ...Read the full article

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  1. Frank Lee My Dears I Don't Give A Damn from Trawana, Canada writes:
    The era of the amateur and the unintelligent is finally upon us. Because the web allows any idiot to post anything and have the great unwashed believe that whatever the idiot posts, it must be 'the truth'. Rather than being open to intelligent discussion, most of what passes for news and information on the web is mindless amateur opinion spiced with mounds of reeking garbage. See Wikipedia.

    If you want to understand what really happens on the web, I recommend 'The cult of the amateur' by Andrew Keen.

    And, before you label me a Luddite (look it up in Webster's, not Wikipedia), I am computer literate.
  2. Steven G. Megannety from Niagara, Canada writes: I use the OED, but you miss the point of what is dumbly called e-democracy. The views of even the strangest person is of equal worth to yours. The din of new voices and new points of entry should be embraced and encouraged. I wouldn't call you a Ludditte as you seem wiser than Ned Ludd, but your elitism is showing
  3. Jacques Shellac from Montreal, Canada writes: It's people like Frank Lee that keep me coming back to these comment sections for more. The sad thing is that he thinks that he is enlightened because he recommends a book that was widely panned, and that he has a vague understanding of the term luddite.

    Sorry, but I'll take wikipedia as a good starting point any day over the likes of Andrew Keen.

    Plonk!
  4. Mike Witcher from montreal, Canada writes: Actually, Nature compare Wiki to Britannica in Dec. 2005 (see the NAture Blog/commentary: http://blogs.nature.com/wp/nascent/2005/12/comparingwikipediaandbritan1.html)

    In fact, Wikipedia does indeed compare to Encyclopedia Britannica in many respects.
    My question however, is this; now that we have a huge access to information and activist have a non-censored voice, what has this achieved? Dare I say nothing. No one who welds any sort of power (even voters) cares about what's on the internet. It took about 10 years and the main stream media to convince people the earth is starting to warm up (some people).
    It was obvious Bush was utterly incompetent after his first term, the Web was full of sites outlining his shortcomings. What did it accomplish? Nada.
  5. Ivan Shmelev from Toronto, Canada writes:
    The global Internet services becomes the threat for our economy ! Nobody cannot control the flow of illegal on-line services and cannot guaranty the delivery of crucial social services through the Internet: Banking, social, educational and personal information ! During the next years the Government has to launch the National Service Network , which will substitute the Internet, but provide the same services by Government control. Only this way can help to keep our economy well.

    Following by link you can find one of examples of new National Service Network: http://www.slideshare.net/ishmelev/new-business-model-for-telecom-industry-0512008-412359/
  6. B Johnson from Canada writes: I don't believe it has to be either/or. It's good to embrace both worlds. Often what is dictated by the media is of little relevance to most people. How can one come to an informed decision relying on only 2.5 second blurbs on the nightly news. I do read the major newspapers online, but I also read what the alternative media has to say on the same subject and derive some sense of it all in between the two. It's great to have that opportunity.
  7. B Johnson from Canada writes: I don't believe it has to be either/or. It's good to embrace both worlds. Often what is dictated by the media is of little relevance to most people. How can one come to an informed decision relying on only 2.5 second blurbs on the nightly news. I do read the major newspapers online, but I also read what the alternative media has to say on the same subject and derive some sense of it all in between the two. It's great to have that opportunity.
  8. Glen Gatin from Canada writes: Frank Lee, victim of his own conclusion.
  9. slapdash dapoint from trawna, Canada writes: B Johnson from Canada

    i agree. i was always taught (at home, at least) to question everything. and while i may take it too far sometimes (read: booted from uni), i think, while it can be overwhelming at times, we are better off for having such a wealth of information and opinions available to us from multiple sources.

    the more you expose yourself to, the more you are able to filter out, the more you are able to ask better questions, the more you can grasp a truer understanding.

    otherwise, you're being fooled into thinking you're making up your own mind. you're denying yourself the possibility of another "truth".
  10. Curious G from Canada writes: @Frank Lee:

    I suspect that as the ink dried on the Declaration of Independence, your ancestors were present, crying that government by an uneducated mass of people would result in ruin, and that only the educated (charlatans) like yourself were truly fit to offer an opinion.

    Please check your elitist, miopic view of the world before commenting on possible shifts in political discourse. Extending the voice, scope and reach of the true public voice could potentially serve as an improvement on representative government, and simultaneously motivate those that wish to be involved, to seek the education necessary.

    Frankly - Mr. Frank Lee - I would much rather hear the opinion of the uneducated in my nation as a measure of the nations health than the opinion of someone who claims to be educated, but lacks the intelligence to put that education to work in a constructive fashion.

    /facepalm
  11. Dan Fornika from Vancouver, Canada writes: The Canadian copyright reform bill that was mentioned in the last sentence has not been "scrapped" but merely shelved temporarily. Copyright activists such as Mr. Geist have stated that they expect it will be tabled before the current session of House of Commons wraps up for the summer.

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