How much power do we have in regards to media? If we think of media in conventional terms then our power is constantly shrinking. We consume more and more but it is controlled by fewer and fewer (but also bigger and bigger) companies. There are more ways we consume media today using TV’s, computers, even cell phones but there are also more ways of controlling where and how that media is consumes. Companies accomplish this mainly through the use of Digital Rights Management (DRM) schemes.
However with this loss of control there is paradoxically more power available to us than ever before. What makes this possible? Social media. Using Facebook and Twitter we the people have the power to make our voice heard. If no one is willing to listen then through the power of social media we can organize so that together our voices are louder than ever.
In 1989 one man literally stood against the Chinese military in Tienanmen Square. The photograph (copyright Associated Press and linked from the BBC website) showing this man’s bravery was shown all over the world. It shows him just standing there stopping a line of Chinese tanks. But this spring when people in Arab countries were seeking freedom from oppression had a power at their disposal that the one Chinese person didn’t – the power of social media. Instead of one person standing against an oppressive government there were a whole lot of them that were able to organize through social media. So at the beginning of the 21st Century we the people have less and more social power than ever before.
