(no subject)
The Internet Revolution has also changed the balance of influence/power. It is the only form of Media cultural transmission that is in the hands of the masses. However, I predict that, as has been the fate of all sorts of revolutions that attempted to even out inequalities, eventually the power and influence on the Internet will be consolidated in the hands of an elite few. We are transitioning out of the Wild West, Gold Rush days, into a regulated and monetized system. The Internet is already heavily controlled in many countries. In China sites such as Youtube, Flickr, Twitter, even Google, have been blocked and continue to be restricted. The system will become more corrupted over time by human greed, such as Amazon which deletes negative reviews to generate more sales (if you don’t believe me, Google it yourself). “Free” information is being reclaimed such as the government shut down of BitTorrent sites, Napster, videos being taken off of Youtube due to copyright claims, and scientific articles that come up first in Google Searches have to be paid for. Free information is being replaced by sites such as Yahoo! Answers, over 100 million personal blogs, or discussion boards which offer free opinions, but their veracity is questionable.