101 Culture

I just read a Sunday Times article which gave some perspective on #mj crisis and got me excited about our emerging digital culture. India Knight writes of following the news of Jackson's death emerge on both Twitter and TV new networks. She noted that not only were the news networks 20 minutes behind in reporting the details such as confirmation of death, but she found Twitter a better place to gain an understanding of what his death, and our communal mourning really meant. @MusicThing said, "The day the eighties officially died". And she realised that his death meant that "we are officially old." For the youth of the eighties, the death of such a star was a sure sign that we're in a different time. And, in a twist which got me logging on to Wordpress, she said the most remarkable thing about his death was "the ability to confer collectively and globally". So whilst we sat glued to the TV when Diana died, as MJ's death ignited a global interest, we shared thoughts, jokes and immediate reactions on Twitter, we shared Spotify playlists and YouTube videos of his finest moments. And when I noticed MJ's t-shirt in the Beat It video, I used Google to find out where I could buy it. I couldn't find a good enough replica, but I found a designer willing to email me the image of their replica so I could make my own. And now the news has sunk in, I've used my blog to reflect the matter, triggered by the sunday papers. So I'm with @indiaknight. #mj was a defining pinacle of the MTV era. But we're in a much more exciting place now. We're in a super-connected place where his presence will live on in the collective mind as long as any one person wants it to.

The BBC's Have Your Say is asking what future of the web you'd like to see? Collaboration is the keyword, says Berners-Lee. I think I need an 'I heart Tim' T-shirt.

In an article about internet use by the homeless, the Wall St Journal covers a few fascinating stories showing how important it can be for people to be online. More important, perhaps for those mentioned, than to have their own home. As Charles Pitts, a 37 year old San Franciscan poet who lives under a bridge, says, "You don't need a TV. You don't need a radio. You don't even need a newspaper. But you need the Internet." This reminded me of the project that Google is supporting which offers free phone numbers and voicemail to the homeless. It takes no leap of the imagination to see the ways in which being connected can be beneficial. And today sees another inspiring story of homelessness and the internet but this time from Toronto. A Ukranian immigrant on the streets of Toronto took advantage of the local library's internet access to research what business he could launch to earn himself a home. He settled on Blighty's own Million Dollar Homepage project as inspiration but with a charitable twist. He taught himself enough programming to build the site and has earned enough to hire himself an apartment. And that's the wonderful thing about thinking about digital culture in these early stages of global connectivity. It's hardly started. But already we see the power of global connectivity and information sharing. Cory Doctorow predicts that "the UN will enshrine network access as a human right within five years". It's ambitious. But while some people moan about the music industry suffering at the hands of open information sharing, imagine the possiblities of free information sharing for all, everywhere, regardless of wealth, literacy or location. It's unimaginable. [image from] [WSJ article via]