Wikileaks:
next phase in social media
December, 2010 |
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Is
the whole circus around Wikileaks a hype? I don't think so. Governments
corporations and other organizations will have to adapt to a new
world where we communicate different and secrets will no longer
exist.
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The
attention of the media, and thus the world, has been centered too
much on the hackers who attacked credit card companies and other institutions
that acted against Wikileaks, making it look like an action of teenagers
wracking havoc on the internet. However, the real fight is between
organizations trying to contain information and the public in general,
striving for freedom of information. Is this just a hype, happening
by coincidence, because one soldier in the American army decided to
bring secrets into the open?
To my idea what is happening with Wikileaks is a natural next phase
in the social media revolution. If it hadn't been Wikileaks, then
sooner or later it would have been another site or person divulging
government or corporate secrets. The social media revolution has changed
the way we communicate and the way we look at information. We expect
organizations to be totally transparent and we "punish"
organizations that are not, by trashing them on social media sites
and blacklisting their products. Privacy is quickly diminishing because
of how we communicate and present ourselves online and we expect the
same, or actually more from companies and other organizations.
I expect a lot of people will say that diplomats and democratic
governments need secrets to be able to do their job successfully and
to safeguard the public. However, this is old-fashioned thinking and
all those organizations will have to adapt to a new world; a world
where few things can be kept secret for a long time; a world where
most people in society will strive to unveil secrets and make them
public knowledge.
Does this mean that governments will collapse? No of course not! Like
everybody else who has a negative experience because of what was willingly
or unknowingly published in Facebook, people in governmental organizations
will have to adapt their behavior and the way they work, to avoid
situations like the one we have with Wikileaks right now. In the end,
most secrets are about negative, shameful, unethical or criminal behavior.
The world could be a far better place without them.
I am extremely interested in your opinion about the above.
Do you agree that all information should be public? Do you think that
Wikileaks is a good development? Or do you have another opinion? |
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Social
media
