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POWER OF INFORMATION

The „power of information” has given individuals and governments


the power to connect with each other instantaneously over great distances.
What effect do you believe this development will have on the process
of integration in the years to come?

Nowadays, due to technological advancements, the next step in the evolution of


information is not on paper, but on screen, and online. The internet is revolutionizing personal
and mass comunication, changing the social dynamic of information in society. Not only has
become an indispensable information resource for personal business use, but it has also been
used to fuel political change and expose the flaws in the structure of more conventional and
mainstream forms of communication.
Over the past decade, the internet has become part of many people`s daily lives. The
statistics showed us that: ”The number of adult Americans using the Internet increased 50%
from 2000 to 2003, reaching 126 milion users in 2003.1 Also, two thirds of people aged 18-29
are online2. Not only are more and more people using the internet, but they are also using it
more often for a various activities like: shopping and financial management instead of
travelling to the store or bank, respectively, and social community has moved online as well3
such as : HI5, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter etc.
65% of American people agreed that computer had become part of their daily routine
at home4. The internet`s range of use has also widened in recent years.
Indeed, the internet has become an indispensable tool for people in their daily lives,
and as a result, it has gained influence in information distribution. In the February 15th, 2005
edition of Library Journal , an unflattering editorial on „Blog People” was published.5
However, the implications of the internet`s influence on the way people and bussiness
gather and distrubute information goes beyond web logs and journals. There are much broad

1
Hoffman, D. L., Novak, T. P., Venkatesh, A. Has the Internet Become indispensable?
Communications of the ACM (July 2004). P. 38
2
Hoffman, p. 38
3
Ibid, p. 39
4
Ibid, p. 40
5
Fialkoff, F. The Power of Blogs. Library Journal, (Apr 1, 2005), p. 8

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social implications, the most imediately recognizable of which it its in use in afefecting
political change. Such was the case during Ukraine`s Orange Revolution.
A study of website use resulting web traffic for both sides of the political battle
showed some clear differences, with Viktor Yuschenko`s supporters being much more active
in the online realm.6 With the Ukrainian government in firm control of all the traditional
media, such as newspapers, magazines, radio, and television, the internet was the only choice
for those to critique the actions of presidents.7
The internet has also been used in a more introspective way, exposing issues and
incting changes within other forms of more conventional media. This is the different from
other forms of media venturing onto the internet, as discussed above, because instigator of
this change has been internet-based, disseminating outward from websites.
The exposure of James Frey`s bestselling memoir A Million Little Pieces as a
fraudulent and fictionalized tale by the website thesmokinggun.com was a prime example of
the internet`s use to expose problems in the structure of conventional media. The story of
Frey`s vast exagerations in a supposdly true book was broke by thesmokinggun.com, in an
expose posted on January 8th, 2006, entitled A Million Little Lies.8
The revolution of information acces that the internet is creating continues to affect
both personal and mass comunications in a society where information control is a vary
valuable comodity.
Like the democratic and industrial revolutions before it, the information revolution has
started out with grand and noble ambitions behind it. The ideea of free acces to information in
an enticing prospect, but we must not forget the begginings of this modern movement, as
seems to have happened in the two previous to it. If power is defined as access to resources,
then we as a society have an oportunity to capture the vast power of information. The
importance of this opportunity should not be overlooked.

With the use of the internet technology there can be seen a great positive force on
globalization as it tends to increase the communication processes between people living in
different parts of the world and also helps to promote the political, social, economic, and
cultural aspects of a country.

6
Kyj, M. J. Internet use in Ukraine`s Orange Revolution. Bussiness Horizons, (2006), p. 78
7
Kyj, p. 72
8
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0104061jamesfrey1.html

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As there is a positive impact of internet on globalization there can be seen a negative
impact of internet on globalization as well. While the interdependence and the internet
technological advancement have increased in some parts of the world, this is not true in the
vast majority of the South. Despite the rapid globalization of the internet, the less developed
countries cannot benefit as much as those of the developed countries in economic as well as in
political institutions.

The globalization of internet technology in the less developed countries typically is a


one way proposition: the people do not control any of the information; they only receive it. It
is also true that worldwide the ability to control or generate broadcasts rests in the hands of
the tiny minority. This shows that in these countries the internet technology generally does not
have a neutral application. The placement of the internet technology in developing countries
often causes social costs, as well as costs in the form of urbanization, employment
displacement, and the “digital divide.”9

Thus the internet both has positive as well as negative effects on globalization and
they play equally an important part in the financial and economic status of a specific country.
The negative impact on the globalization can be reduced if an equilibrium and balance is
created and developmental techniques and schemes of information technology are introduced
in the less developing countries so that they may progress and pace forward in the 21st
century.

9
http://socyberty.com/issues/the-internet-and-globalization/ (The Internet and Globalization)

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