Blogging is redefining the landscape of the Internet much the same way the Web altered it by introducing HTML. If one understands the purpose of the Internet – – which was to have the ability to SHARE information across computer systems, whether those systems were local — within specific geographic limitations (such as an office or city) — or global — from country to country, across invisible boundaries of oceans/space and even, time — one can begin to digest the importance of this new millennium form of human interaction. The impact is more far reaching than envisioned 35 years ago when the first computer cables connected one machine to another, forming a network that would eventually give a voice to all citizens, regardless of age, creed, or nationality.
Because blogging is universal, a personal friend of mine blogs on a weekly basis and connects to people in countries he will probably never actually visit, the necessity to become outward thinking, as opposed to inward thinking, becomes a task a true communicator will embrace with enthusiasm.
I have a personal affection for the written word. This, I expect, is why I consider the Internet one of the most important advancements mankind has ever invented, or, developed, if you will. The Internet COMPELS people to READ. Regardless of the pretty pictures, the flash movies, the banner ads, etc, it’s the TEXT on the web-page that informs. It’s the language, the words, the sentences and descriptors that power the web, and the purpose behind it.
That purpose is communication, pure and simple. Ecommerce, news, ezines, blogs, and more, exist to communicate– person to person, or company to company. The goal is and always has been to convey a message of some sort.
Blogging has impacted the way we communicate across the net by allowing all people an equal voice. Through these daily and weekly diaries and/or business posts, people are connecting in true real-time. With a blog, the writer posts according to her own schedule, activates the post when she’s ready, and allows — in most cases — comments to her content. If she has disabled comments (in response to spam…the scourge of the Internet), there are trackbacks, links that others who comment or write about others may use to acknowledge where their information came from.
Because the Internet is approaching adolescence (at 35 years we would like to say approaching adulthood, but that would be a lie; there is still much to learn about how the Internet works, and much to be invented by children in grade school who will wonder why we adults weren’t smart enough to invent it ourselves), there is a necessity to finally, at last, adopt a vision of cultural diversity.
At FreePress, a series of Town Meetings are in process, to inform citizens of the net, what may be missing from the media they receive and rely on every day. Clicking into their Town Meeting page, #3 of their bulleted list seems most important to me: The best way to promote diverse, locally-oriented programming is to have diverse, local ownership of media.
Beyond that, a link to Forum Barcelona seems intriguing, and vitally important to the future of communication. Forum Barcelona is completely focused on Cultural Diversity and the Media. Two subjects that are no longer mutually exclusive, but are entwined like grapevines growing up a 17th century English Tudor.
The homepage announces: “The Forum Dialogues:During the 141 days of the Forum, the world of today will gather to talk about the world of tomorrow in more than 45 international conferences and seminars – or Dialogues.”
The world of today has a positive ring to it. I envision it as a cultural conclave gathered — online and off — working to build bridges and form connections that bypass language and appearances.
Because, in the end, I firmly believe that people are people, no matter where they are from. The human condition is not selective; we all operate on an emotional basis first, an intellectual one, second. Emotions are the thought processes to our inspirations, our hopes, and, ultimately, our connections to each other.
Cultural diversity…a coming together to learn, to experience, and to improve the human conditon, on a global scale. It is a small, small world, after all.
