A lot of Benkler's arguments reminded me of some of the things we discussed in relation to Sammy, Lydia, and Sarah's video. He points out that new modes of communication allow people to keep in touch with people with greater ease and enable people to meet other people from completely different cultures across the globe. While we know, by virtue of our participatory culture projects, that technology available via the internet can easily be used for less-than-commendable objectives, it was reassuring to hear from Sammy, Sarah, and Lydia that most people just want to keep in touch with others who are important to them. Benkler seconds this. He seems to have a very positive outlook for the future of communication through the internet, proposing that free access to information will increase opportunity for those worse off to acheive equality with people who begin life well. I agree with a lot of points that Benkler makes and I'd like to share his optimism, but then I see sites like this:
It's sad because it's true. Right now the internet is a place where people can be assholes anonymously. Anyone can say/do/be anything whether good or bad. And while I think it's good that the internet has made it harder to kill opposing viewpoints, not all stupid viewpoints need to be glorified for the world to see.
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