Those who follow me on Twitter know that I’ve been watching and “retweeting” information about the upheaval in Iran this past week.
Even one who’s as naturally jaded as me can’t help but be moved by what’s going on there. I truly hope for success for them because I think it will have a beneficial and profound impact not just for them but for the entire world. Successful uprisings and revolutions of the people against tyranny always instill a certain hope and optimism that I think the world can use right now.
Another thing that has struck is how important a role Twitter and YouTube have played in this. I think it’s fair to say that without those tools, this uprising wouldn’t have gotten as far as it already has. While it’s easy to overstate things about technology being revolutionary (pun intended), I think there’s some merit here. These technologies have played a critical role in changing the shape of society and that change can’t be undone. They’ve provided a medium of expression that’s clearly nearly impossible to fully control.
In thinking about the impact of these technologies, it strikes me that we’ve actually been undergoing a major revolution for the past ten to fifteen years where technology has been changing and freeing society. It’s just this has been so subtle and quiet that we haven’t really stopped to notice it.
What I mean is that, as someone who’s come more and more into an identity that would’ve been considered “fringe” in the days before the Internet, it occurs to me just how critical a role the Internet has played in enabling both my growth and the growth of the community and others who identify in these groups. If you were kinky, poly, or a pagan, in the days before the Internet, you would have to find other people like yourself, likely engage in a long, slow process of making sure they were safe (and them you) and slowly become part of the community (if you were accepted) over time by going to events. This would take a long time, and you’ve have a small circle in most cases.
Today, you can jump start that process by joining online communities that connect you with others of similar interests all around the world. Instead of being part of a kink community of 100 people in Spokane, say, you can be part of a worldwide kink community of tens of thousands through fetlife.com. Where before you might have to be a solo practioner for sacred sexuality because you could trust no one in your small Ohio town to not persecute you, now you can learn from and trade information and practices with a woman who runs a Temple in Atlanta that you met through Yahoo Groups.
There is a certain overselling going on around “social networking” and so there’s also now a certain, expected backlash that discounts the importance of them. I think this risks failing to understand the profound depth of changes under way. While the Web 1.0 was revolutionary in terms of enabling the greater sharing of knowledge, knowledge is something we as humans simply hold. The Web 2.0 is revolutionay in terms of enabling social connections. And humans are fundamentally social animals. Because of this, Web 2.0 is slowly changing what we are, not just something that we simply hold.
What’s going on in Iran makes clear some of the depths of these changes. But I think if we pause and think about this more, we’ll realize we’ve already changed signifcantly in ways we just haven’t bothered to notice. If you want an exercise in understanding those changes, watch a TV show from the 1970’s and really think about the size, scope and structure of that world as people experienced it then.
I think you’ll find that it’s not just Iran but the world that is getting to be a lot more free and liberated.
And, of course, in my opinion, that’s only a good thing.
