...So can we, and we have to an extent.
I'm referring to an article which discusses how Iranian bloggers use the internet to unite in the face of a "media vacuum created by the forced closure of independent news outlets," which I find relevant in an age where the mass media pacifies and isolates its audience rather than informing it.
This is from the Washington Times:
The blogging phenomenon has exploded in the Islamic Republic. Today an estimated 75,000 Iranians maintain online Web logs, or "blogs," for short, that engage in a brisk virtual dialogue despite an Orwellian government that has a monopoly on public news media. They are an ever-enlarging faction of the 5 million Internet users in Iran, who have taken the protest for greater social freedom from streets and newsstands to cyberspace.
Hmm... Orwellian government, sounds like America in 5 years.
I know that during the election people were mobilized through political blogs. I just think that people are dividing amongst too many websites across this vast internet. We need to link up through a central resource.
More after the jump...
Think of the creativity and productivity that could flourish with one central meeting ground for all Americans. MySpace made a huge impact in the music industry and I think that with millions of Americans becoming more and more pissed off, some kind of united political blogosphere could catch on like wildfire.
The sites are there right now, Dailykos is one of thousands, the people are out there, let's unite.
According to this site the US population is 299,093,237 and the number of internet users is 203,824,428.
The Iranians had 75,000 blogs out of 5 million internet users, that is 1.5 %. In the US, 1.5% would be 3.05 million people. If 1/3 are would join some kind of giant index of blogs, that would be 1 million people. There must be at least that many people in this country that would like to form a virtual community like that.
I feel that we are approaching a crossroads. Technology has benefited the common man, but it also has the power to subdue us all. Either corporations will take over the internet or the people will establish their dominance. The threat isn't dire yet, but think about this:
If there was a grand website that a vast majority of Americans blogged on, that had an established network of millions of users, a ripe position for a netroots political movement, if such a thing existed, would you rather have it in the hands of powerful corporations or in an open source, free-for-all online community, run by regular people?