This is an "all-purpose" blog where I'll just spiel on a variety of subjects...this could range from current events, travel, entertainment, my personal life, etc.
I am a college student with a moderate view and international perspective who feels that we need to express our views and value the human experience..oh and don't be surprised if I start writing in foreign languages; it's something I can't help doing.
A word I've heard often in the last year or so... Rick Sanchez and Don Lemon both "twitter" on their CNN newscasts. Celebrities have been twittering for a while also letting the whole world now about all the minutiae in their lives. It's even said that Jennifer Aniston became annoyed with boyfriend's John Mayer's Twitter"addiction
Well, after hearing so much about Twitter and the media and from tech-savvy friends I decided to jump aboard several weeks ago.
It's an interesting proposition... think text message meets blog... you got 140 characters to share an idea and express to all your followers... aka Twitter friends who sign up to read all your updates.
At the moment friends who have Twitter are following me as are an interesting array of people in the U.S. and around the world who I do not know, but am "getting to know" maybe.
Some say Twitter has reached its peak, jumped the shark while other say the Twitter Revolution is very beginning. I tend to agree with the latter.
On my Blackberry, thanks to Twitterberry, I get to read all my friends updates. But I only get to follow my real-life friends, but journalists, bloggers and news organizations. I get updates from them giving me fascinating links or updating me on the latest story. It's like I'm in a newsroom with the AP wire going crazy, but in a whole new way.
That's why I say this is a revolution. You can receive media in a whole new way and that's exactly what living the "eLife" is all about! I look at my phone and know what just happened in places that are important to me... say CNN for world news, Salt Lake Tribune for Utah News, New York Times, for my "hometown's" news... big hometown i know... Le Monde, for French news (J'aime la France) or Colombia's El Tiempo, to know what's happening where my grandparents live. I get links and then I can retweet them... RT... basically I can share what I got from one of my friends with my followers. I can also interact with them and they can read what I have to say on the subject. If they're real-life friends they'll read it and if they have thousands of followers they might not get to read it, but then again they might.
On CNN for example, during Sanchez's and Lemon's show many of the Twitter comments are actually read on the air!
It's changing news media in an incredible way where there is much more transparency and interaction.
It's fascinating and it's another example of social determinism. For those who choose to follow this new form of media and social networking they can be on top of things and be informed. It's using the internet and new technologies to our advantage.
I recently had a test in my communication class where I explored how new media is affecting our participatory democracy. We looked at many different theorists and their philosophies on new media and I most agreed with Henry Jenkin's concept of "social determinism."
Jenkins writes, "the emergence of new media technologies supports a democratic urge to allow more people to create and circulate the media."
To me it's the most democratic way of looking at new media and it immediately brings COLOMBIA to mind.
Basically, we as people control how technology advances and we use it to our own advantage. I don't feel we can or should let technology manipulate us. Internet and technology can be a force for good if used properly as was the case in Colombia.
Colombians marched to show their repudiation of the FARC. According to RCN News, 95 percent of Colombians are against the guerrilla group and their use of kidnappings and bombings to yield power away from the Colombian government.
Literally millions of Colombians marched in something that was completely remarkable on February 4th, 2008 and later on July 20th, 2008, Colombia's Independence Day. This event was then finally repeated again toward the end of 2008.
Colombians marched with banners reading "no more kidnappings, no more lies, no more killings, no more FARC" and on July 20th they marched with the banner "Colombia Soy Yo" or "Colombia Am I."
One woman in Medellin, Colombia's second-largest city, holds a sign that reads "There are 3,200 hostages in my family," referencing Colombians kidnapped by the FARC and other rebel groups.
Colombians and those who are against the FARC's methods marched in major Colombian cities and other cities around the world such as New York and Paris and other cities across Latin America, North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
There were of course some people who were against the protest because it did not target all rebel forces that wreak havoc in Colombia such as right-wing paramilitary groups. The FARC, however, has the most substantial number of hostages.
After the first march, as luck would have it, many hostages were freed by the Colombian army including three Americans and a former Colombian presidential candidate, French-Colombian Ingrid Betancourt. Since the second and third marches the FARC has freed a few more hostages or they have been freed by the Colombian military.
In Colombia, a country where arguably less people have access to the Internet as in the United States, people were able to use the Internet for a cause they believed in strongly and it was positive for them and those who stand against the FARC.
Oscar Morales, a Colombian engineer, created the Facebook group and slowly but surely the group snowballed into a group with thousand of members and traditional news media began to cover it, such as RCN and Caracol, Colombia's main television stations and El Tiempo, Bogota's leading daily newspaper. Today that group has more than 445,000 members on Facebook.
There are some within Colombia and abroad, as previously mentioned, who feel the FARC is not the only rebel group that should have been marched against since there are other rebel groups. However, it became clear that for the majority of Colombians, the FARC do not represent them and they did that by harnessing "social determinism" to stand strong demanding freedom for all Colombians.
Here's a recap from Colombia's RCN News in English of the marches throughout Colombia.
Handheld video of the marches along Bogota's 72nd Street, in the Colombian capital's Financial District. The music in the background, is the country's national anthem, "O Gloria Inmarcesible."
Finally, some video of the coverage of the marches in Bogota from the city's local television station, CityTV (In Spanish.)
Leave comments... Remember this was all organized on FACEBOOK!!! What are your thoughts?
EN ESPAÑOL
Recientemente, tuve un examen un mi clase de comunicación donde exploré las maneras que nuevos medios están afectando nuestra democracia participativa. Hablamos de diferentes teorías acerca de los nuevos medios y estuve más de acuerdo con el concepto de "determinismo social" de Henry Jenkins. Jenkins escribe, "el surgimiento de tecnologías en nuevos medios apoya un deseo democrático de permitir más personas crear y circular información." Para mí, esta es la manera más democrática de ver nuevos medios de comunicación e inmediatamente me vino COLOMBIA a la mente. Básicamente, nosotros como seres humanos controlamos como la tecnología avanza and como la usamos para nuestra propia ventaja. Yo no creo que podemos o debemos permitir que la tecnología nos manipule. La Internet y la tecnología pueden ser una fuerza de bien cuando se usa apropiadamente como fue el caso en Colombia. Los colombianos marcharon para demostrar su repudio contra las FARC. De acuerdo a Noticias RCN, un 95 por ciento de los colombianos están en contra del grupo guerillero y su uso de secuestros y bombas para quitarle el poder al gobierno colombiano. Literalmente millones de colombianos marcharon en algo que fue completamente increíble el 4 de febrero, 2008 y luego el 20 de julio, el día de la independencia de la República de Colombia. Este evento se repitió finalmente a finales de 2008. Los colombianos marcharon con pancartas con las palabras, "no más secuestros, no más mentiras, no más muertes, no más FARC." y el 20 de julio con las palabras "Colombia Soy Yo." Una mujer en Medellín, la segunda ciudad más poblada de Colombia, marcha con una hoja con las palabras "en mi familia hay 3.200 secuestrados,' haciendo referencia a los secuestrados por las FARC y otros grupos rebeldes. Los colombianos y aquellos encontra de los métodos de las FARC marcharon en las principales ciudades de Colombia y en otras ciudades alrededor del mundo en ciudades como Nueva York y Paris y en otras ciudades por toda América Latina, Norte América, Europa, Asia y Australia. Claro--hubo gente que estaba en contra de las manifestaciones porque no se enfocaban en todos los grupos rebeldes que crean caos en Colombia como grupos paramilitares. Las FARC tienen un gran número de secuestrados. Luego de la primera marcha, muchos secuestrados fueron liberados por el Ejército Colombiano, incluyendo tres estadounidenses y una ex-candidata presidencial, la franco-colombiana Ingrid Betancourt. Desde las segunda y tercerca marcha, las FARC ha liberado más secuestrados o más han sido liberados por el ejército. En Colombia, un país donde menos personas tienen acceso a la Internet, el pueblo pudo utilizar la Internet para una causa en la cual creían firmemente y fue positivo para ellos y para todos aquellos que están en oposición a las FARC. Oscar Morales, un ingeniero colombiano, creó un grupo en Facebook y poco a poco el grupo creció a tener miles de miembros. Luego, los medios tradicionales empezaron hacerle cobertura al grupo, como los canales colombianos RCN y Caracol, al igual que El Tiempo, el diario principal de Bogotá. Hoy ese grupo tiene más de 445.000 miembros. Hay algunos en Colombia y en el exterior, como fue mencionado antes, que creen que las FARC no es el único grupo rebelde al cual se debió haber marchado en protesta. De cualquier modo, está claro que para un mayoría de los colombianos, las FARC no los representan y lo hicieron a través del "determinismo social" para exigir la libertad para todos los colombianos.
... y todo esto fue organizado en Facebook!
Photos, creative commons license from flickr.com Names of creators in file names.
