Internet Out of Control?

After looking at Liz and Martine's blog posts from last week I realized there are a lot of connections between free speech and the internet with specific attention to social networking sites. I think it would be really interesting to be the one in charge of monitoring a site like Facebook for inappropriate or unwelcome content. Who decides what content is deemed inappropriate? As a facebook user, I don't know specifically what content gets people kicked off. I was never directly informed that's for sure. Perhaps in the agreement when you first register they have it in small print somewhere, but I definitely don't remember seeing it. When I first started reading the Goldsmith article, it made me a little uneasy to know that there is so much uncontrollable content on the internet. Because its lack of physical space, it's so difficult to institute rules and regulations and carry out reinforcement when those standards aren't kept. I for one would never want to see the google results for Nazi paraphernalia or that there are any at all. The movie Untraceable sums up all the fears that people carry about the internet. This whole idea of anonymous spaces on the internet makes people think they can do whatever they please. Because the internet is used by so many people it makes controlling it seem, well impossible. Social standards seem to disappear when people can hide behind a screen. People get bolder online because they feel they won't have to deal with the consequences. Goldsmith doesn't ever really give a solution to this regulation failure but instead points out that territorial lines are becoming invisible and boundaries crossed. It's up to us to figure out what to do about that.

Media Groups and Politics

I know in class we've had a lot of discussion concerning the formation of groups through new media resources. This is a very interesting topic for me in particular because I am a politics minor and there is a good amount of crossover into my politics class this semester. The amount that media has impacted the election process is tremendous. It was a large part of Obama's campaign. The democratic party chose to embrace new media by forming accounts on facebook and twitter. They were able to reach a whole new demographic, including younger and first time voters. Also, the use of social networking sites enabled the campaign to form groups more easily and faster than ever. People could get involved in the campaigning by volunteering or donating with the click of a button. This helped reach more people and build Obama's coalition. I think that this is a real life example of the borders that group formation online is breaking. The entire campaigning world is changing because of the internet and specifically social networking sites. I think its just really interesting to see how politicians are molding themselves to fit the times and how active people can become in their own way. Any citizen can now have an active role in a campaign effort from the comforts of their own home. Groups are taking on all new capabilities as forces to be reckoned with, much like they did in the Shirky article.