Pulsepolitics // How social media is changing politics

// 05.02.2008 at 2:58 pm // Have your say »

The mechanics of grassroots censorship.

I am constantly rambling that the internet is not necessarily a good thing for democracy. I believe, and here reiterate, that the web is just another social tool like the radio, television, book or telephone. What is novel about the web is that it has broken the strangle hold that the corporate world has had […]

// Tagged social movement, democracy, Featured

// 04.22.2008 at 3:34 pm // 1 Comment »

NJ, More then just great tomatos, smoke stacks and Newark.

The Garden State, home of the the NY Giants, the Jersey Devil, Bon Jovi (and Springsteen) has 1-uped it’s 49 competitor states again. This should come as no surprise to anyone who has marvled at the 16 lane Garden State parkway or graduated from the illustrious Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. What has the […]

// Tagged democracy, Featured

// 04.13.2008 at 11:37 am // Have your say »

We’re all watching us!

I know… I’m repetitive, I ramble but it’s true…social media open up the way for greater surveillance. My previous posts have gone on about how the web allows authorities to (potentially) perfectly monitor our social activities, at least as we or our friends report them on facebook/twitter. But today the NY Times brings us a […]

// Tagged democracy, Featured

// 04.10.2008 at 12:35 pm // 2 Comments »

Web 2.0: Hookers get it!

    At last weekend’s Bar Camp Orlando, Andres, Gabriella and I gave a presentation in which we claimed that the social web has broad significance for social movements and political demonstrations. One of our claims was/is that large organizations and governments have been unable to capitalize on the social web while small groups and […]

// Tagged social movement, Featured

// 04.08.2008 at 12:31 pm // Have your say »

If it bleeds, can it be censored?

The Indonesians and the Dutch are at it again! The AP, Reuters and others are reporting that a dutch legislator has created a film that not only depicts Muhammad (a no no for Muslims), but also encourages Muslims to “tear out ‘hate-filled’ verses from the Koran”. What has been the response […]

// Tagged democracy, Featured

// 04.07.2008 at 2:52 pm // Have your say »

China:Westernization here we come?

I’m no fan of the Olympics. Relay races, Javelin, the High Jump and Skeet shooting are no fun to watch and guzzle beer to, unless of course you are playing them yourself on the 2600. But this years Olympic games in Beijing are creating an interesting political environment in one of the most repressive regimes […]

// Tagged democracy, Featured

// 04.01.2008 at 4:55 pm // Have your say »

The myth of the democratization of music

One serious cause of confusion regarding the internet and democracy is the conflation between liberal democratic freedom and market freedom. One area that has been revolutionized by the growth of the internet has been the recording industry. The industry is itself still reeling from the gross errors in judgment and misguided, short sighted business practices […]

// Tagged Featured

// 03.31.2008 at 3:27 pm // 2 Comments »

Spying 2.0 - Wikis and Google Aid CIA Espionage Efforts

Yesterday I wrote that we need to critically evaluate the ability of the internet to enhance democracy. I suggested that for three reasons we need reconsider the internet as a uniformly democratic technology:
1. Ease of surveillance
2. The net’s culturally homogenizing effects
3. The net’s military origins.
Today the San Fransisco Chronicle has published an article highlighting […]

// Tagged Featured

// 03.30.2008 at 3:21 pm // Have your say »

Internet as tool for democracy, really?

The year is 2008. The cold war has been won, the world has been globalized, the internet has made people everywhere interconnected. As the internet grows it has become clear that it is not just a powerful tool for transmitting information, it is also a powerful tool for social organization. Sites like YouTube begin […]

// Tagged Uncategorized

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