Virginia Tech: personal observations on the use of web 2.0
No doubt about it, it has been a very sad week in the United States. Like many I find it difficult to even talk about it without feeling a very deep sensation of pity and hopelessness that can quite easily lead to a depressed state of affairs – it hits home especially since we ourselves are an institute of technology. One of the things that Ive noted which gives me a great deal of hope is the way in which people immediately turned to web 2.0 models for a collective outpouring of comment, in support and shared grief. My own reaction was I think in some way a reflection of the importance placed (at least by me) on user generated content. Allow me to reflect on one of many personal outcomes of this event – the means by which I gleaned information. I first heard the news on the BBC's news site which ran an emergency banner heading on its site. I then tuned to the BBC News 24 streaming broadcast from the UK (they stream all major news events live over their site when they happen) this appeared to be in a news loop containing at first – very little information. Then I logged into facebook and looked over my news feed to find that many of my friends were already talking about it, posting sources for localized information, blogs of VT students, news sites and of course plenty of soul searching commentary. It was all rather sad, no one mentioned it in class when I taught at 12pm, whether this was due to nervousness or news yet to filter out I'm not sure. But by 6pm everyone was talking about it. That's the time when I finally tuned to local and national television channels. So what's changed? This terrible event illustrated for me, my increasing focus and trust on user generated content over and above traditional media outlets. To my mind people seem to trust people before they trust corporations and official statements (though these are still very important of course). It is the first time when my consumption of news and information has witnessed a stepped change where by I placed users at the top of most trusted sources of information. I found it to be more relevant, personal, true and meaningful.
Then the following day came the news of individuals name. I (like many one assumes) turned to facebook to see if there was any news specifically on the person everyone was talking about. Interestingly there was no self entry on either facebook or myspace which may indeed be a comment on the nature of the individual concerned, it may not – it was certainly a comment on my use of sources of information that I trust. Then I turned to the online representations of the media – BBC news, CNN, Rochester Today, D&C – static and time locked it seemed (very little refreshed information, very commercial). Back to facebook, increasingly more and more students were commenting and posting information. This seemed to contain more relevant discussion to me than any of the usual media outlets (with its usual obsessions).
It would be interesting see how others managed their search for information.
In the meantime I think all of us are still in a state of shock and I for one am still processing. My most important thoughts are of course for those poor souls who lost their lives. Rest in peace.
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There is another point in this sad story. I think, US education will seriously lose its competitiveness on the international market. Knowing the US well, even I will think more than twice before entering one of the universities there. Might seriously consider European ones.
The country has got some serious issues. I was amazed that one could just buy a gun without even being checked by a psychiatrist. When you get your driver license, I think, you pass more medical tests (at least in Ukraine). Sometimes there is too much freedom and people start treating it the wrong way. Shall the freedom be controled?
Something is wrong with how people think. I am not sure if its just our mass media, but citizens on TV were only sorry that none of the students or teachers had the gun!!! Can you imagine taking weapon everywhere with you? We already have too much of security control in museums, theatres, business centers, I don’t even want to start talking about airports. Do we want to add universities to that list? This is not my vision of freedom and security.
It wouldn’t be bad for the government (and companies that sell and produce weapons) to run a serious PR campaign for the parents to keep their guns far from children and some emotional ads for all of us on the value of life of a human being (should be something touching). I think, web 2.0 can be a very important part in the social campaign even just by showing people praying for those who are gone…
Yes I agree that I primarily seek out UGC more and more these days, especially because I’m not willing to shell out $50 per month for recycled cable programming.
While it would be a great idea to show people praying for those who are gone, that brings up a big issue. Organizations like the ACLU would go ballistic if prayer were shown on a public service announcement, claiming that someone might get offended. Any time anything is treated as sacred, there is usually a religious undertone, and they do their best to wash the country of it. Their reaction, while an attempt to prevent offense to any one group, has the potential to offend every group.
Worse yet, censoring anything that does not conform to a generic multicultural, sterile, inoffensive standard, is slowly creating a nihilist nation that can no longer feel, can no longer respect, can no longer determine right from wrong. These school shooters, and possibly the society they reject, are a product of this evolution.
What happened in VT is a tragedy not only for those who died but also for the people who survive: parents, boyfriends, girlfriends and the students and faculty at VT. It was shocking to see how traditional media (in particular TV) wanted to place blame in the way the school responded. It felt as if the media wanted more pain than the already existing one. Why do people go crazy? Who is to blame if anyone is to blame at all? What happened is horrible but the only thing we can do is learn and move on. It is important to learn even from things like this; if not the small presence of hope that shines will be lost.
We have to see this tragedy as objectively as possible and try to learn from it. It is pointless to blame the violence that is portrayed on film or in video games. The level of violence that exists in the real world exceeds that of fiction. The war in Iraq, Afghanistan and the genocides that are occurring in so many different parts of Africa have definitely a more direct impact in the process of dehumanization. It is really simple to look for answers in the outside world it is really hard to find answers from within. In other words real change comes from the individual; we lead by example. So the real question is: How do we stop violence when our governments and leaders are the first ones to use violence as a solution?