Of
the Information Age and its Rage by Watiri Mwangi
Unknown
Man
is still the most extraordinary computer of all.
John F. Kennedy
We are living in
real time, digital transmission and the internet have reduced time and distance
for information distribution across the globe. I must say, even Zinjanthropus
(if he ever existed) never saw this coming. However, the greatest challenge of
a growing internet community has been the level of integrity of information
provided. Wars are being fought, governments have been overthrown, marriages
broken, lifetime bonds created and revolutions succeeded on the online
platform.
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| An artist's impression of fast super-fast internet |
My lecturer has
issues with blogs (sometimes I tend to think he’s talking about hogs, maybe
it’s the way he pronounces it.) He views them as non-authentic and unreliable
for academic purposes. While this is true, blogs aren’t all that bad, or are
they? This is relative depending on the type of information you are offering on
your blog. Volumes of information have been produced and reproduced for the online
audience. Websites and blogs are doing everything, leaving no stone unturned to
boost traffic to their sites.
Masaku sevens had
been a hot trending topic recently, photos and stories were constantly posted
on blogs and gossip sites. One photo caught many people’s eyes, a couple doing
the dirty in their car, an alleged highlight of the Masaku Sevens. However, the
site was quickly silenced when followers and readers revealed that the photo
was from a club in Westy late last year, I wonder how many more lies had been
circulated by the site. The ends justify the means, they would ultimately
argue, and yes they still had a lot of traffic on their site.
Propaganda has also
had its fair share of exposure in the internet. The protracted
Israeli-Palestine war has been fought with armed warfare. However, the internet
has become a propaganda warfront. While we understand the weight of the war and
the value of the lives lost, we must device better ways of soliciting global
support. Someone deliberately takes a photo from the Syrian war and posts its
#PrayforGaza. Multiple letters have also been distributed incriminating Israeli
P.M Netanyahu on a propaganda basis. Former Egyptian leader has been a victim
of similar circumstances in the war. The racist letter from Netanyahu
describing blacks and Arabs as an inferior race was a fake and a remake of
former South African president P.W Botha during the apartheid period. The Arab
Spring was one of the positive outcomes of the internet. The activists used
multiple platforms to organize and solicit support towards a revolutionary
change in the region.
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| Funtoo.com's illustration of how a joke may be received differently by internet users |
Back home, the
tribal warfare and negative stereotypes are always fought on blogs, Facebook
and Twitter. While the 2013, elections were relatively peaceful on the ground,
the internet was a tribal warzone, to date. It is not rare for a blog post to
be turned into a tool for tribal critique and stereotyping. Internet
nationalism has also fundamentally grown with KOT constantly telling off other
countries when wronged. While I am proud to be Kenyan, the wars are
fundamentally taken a tad too far. While it is wrong mistreating Kenyan players
or secluding Kenya, the Tweefs end up being vicious exchanges of the different
cultural and physical components existent between the countries.
Ultimately, the buck
stops with anyone who is using the online platform. We are very quick to add
our insights and comment on the issue at hand without due process of thought. We
consciously make the choice to share, post, trend or make viral videos. The
unlimited exposure and platform the internet provides is a double-edged sword.
The fact is Big Brother (no relation) might be watching but lacks the capacity
to control information. Control is the last thing we want anyway. So before you
hit that post, share, send or comment button, look into the authenticity of the
information and the rage it might create.
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