social media – simon tall

I am sure that many of you will have seen the Kony 2012 campaign on the internet over the last week or so. For the very few that haven’t click HERE and watch the video.
In a recent post I talked about H.G. Wells and what things might be like in the future. Now having seen Kony 2012, I wonder if things like this may shape our futures. The ‘Invisible Children’ campaign certainly presents itself as changing history.
There has been a lot of debate and controversy surrounding this campaign, it is beautifully presented but perhaps simplistic. It’s goal is to capture the Ugandan warlord, Joseph Kony. Undoubtedly Kony is a man who appears to have committed horrific crimes, specifically against children and I applaud the campaign motives in shining a global light upon him. I hope the campaign succeeds and he is brought to justice. For me justice would be a trial, not his death.
Of course there are many complex problems in the world and bringing Kony to justice would be just one small victory. It would not solve the many problems that exist in central Africa. But I believe it would be a start.
There are many critics out there, quick to judge the makers of this campaign over their motives and finances and some of their criticisms may have foundation. However I am hoping a campaign like this may set a precedent. If they succeed and Kony is captured this year then this could be the forefront of change in global politics and shows how the power of the Internet and social media could shape our future.
Last year we saw the Arab spring revolutions in Northern Africa and we saw riots on the streets of England. Both of these sets of events were orchestrated via social media like BBM, Facebook and Twitter.
Such ‘people power’, whether for good or ill, will begin to have an effect on politicians and the powerful. Politicians in all nations will no longer be able to ignore the connections people around the world are making. Global concerns of ordinary people may well begin to affect national agendas.
Perhaps I am being too naive and hopeful. But it might just be that we are seeing the slow beginnings of a new way of orchestrating our world. One where injustice cannot just be ignored wherever it lies.
I hope so. Please research the Kony 2012 campaign and let me know what you think. Perhaps we are beginning to live in a world where all our voices can be heard…

Joseph Kony

March 11, 2012March 11, 2012 by simontall

It’s odd that I should be writing about snow on such a sunny day, but maybe it won’t be long before England once again is carpeted in the wonderful stuff; here’s hoping.
I have been thinking about thinking and memory. Specifically whether we can ‘think’ without language. Yes. Language; the all pervasive tool that envelops us and and defines us. We use it to attempt to make sense of the world and control and define everything. But, like trying to grasp Plato’s shadows, we always seem to fail.
We live in an age of effervescent text and gaudy image, instantly and endlessly communicating to each other through ever more complex and competing technologies; it’s hard to think that we will be heard, let alone understood. The capacity for misunderstandings seem endless to me.
I am hooked on these technologies I admit, twittering away like a lone sparrow sitting on a telegraph wire in the wind. Those engaged in these activities continually make and break brief (and sometimes not so brief) relationships with strangers. A thing inconceivable ten or fifteen years ago. Who would have thought that such things as Twitter or ‘Second Life’ would exist? Now people fall in love and marry people they meet first online. From other continents. The global traffic of information is astonishing and can even lead to revolutions. The Arab spring, another amazingly inconceivable thing! A Facebook revolution…
A hundred or a hundred and fifty years ago, most only knew of their town or village. News from other continents was slow or non existent. People lived and married and worked with people they knew and did mostly what they were expected to do. Were they more content? Now we are presented with such plethora and choice. The problem is what do we choose?
Maybe all of this new world is fakery, like Baudrillard’s ‘simulacra’; an endless watery stream of consciousness pretending to be reality. The written words are released from our keyboards to be stored in some faceless mainframe we will never see. But can it be forever?
Perhaps in twenty years our children will laugh at our obsessions; “You actually used an IPad?” – who can conceive what wonders they will obsess about?
You must wonder where I am going with all of this. Well like most of my writing I don’t know until I get there, just like life. But at the end of the day I know that memories fade and fall, to be replaced by new ones. The language we use continues to fail us, and yet we still try to communicate and connect, over and over.
In the end does it matter?
Like footprints in the snow, our writing, communications, thoughts, memories and feelings will fade. But wasn’t it glorious to tread there even for a fleeting moment? What do you think?

September 29, 2011March 6, 2013 by simontall

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