Has our world really changed because we have become more communicative? We boast of the highest number of YouTube, Facebook and Twitter users.
I thank those who created these means of communication. There’s no doubt we now know more about each other than we did five years ago. And as we get to know each other more, more we have to worry.
Social media is a mirror that reflects communities as they are. In the United States, nine of the top tweeters are artists such as Katy Perry and Justin Beiber. Seven of the top tweeters here are religious scholars like Al-Oraifi and Al-Ouda. So, would the cultural map change just because we have 20 million people tweeting on a daily basis, or will that only strengthen the old situation?
A recent symposium organized by english.alarbiya.net discussed the sociopolitical impact of technology in our region. The event concluded that the new technologies particularly the fast-emerging social media would help this troubled, divided and full-of-conflicts world to get to know each other well. Statistics indeed show that this world is changing, going thorough an unprecedented transformation. The current transformation is even unmatched with the one that the world had witnessed since the invention of the airplanes, trains and ships that changed the planet’s demography and the emergence of the printing press and television that created a world of information.
However, the conclusion that the social media would help people understand each other better is questionable. As this conclusion cannot be backed by solid facts. In fact, the general conclusion indicates that the social media might be doing just the opposite. It may be increasing the flow of information and making it more available to the masses but it has so far not helped improve any given situation.
On Twitter we can read the tweets of Al-Qaeda followers, threatening and proudly showing the photos of decapitated heads. There are millions of messages on Twitter, many of which are hate messages. This is unprecedented. It’s like a world-level sewage overflow. So, we can’t claim the gap has been bridged. The truth is that the opposite might have happened.
Although, Twitter is not similar to gunpowder, for instance, but more like a kitchen knife: You can make a feast using it or commit murder with it, or like a satellite dish that is only a metal dish that cannot be blamed for the content that reaches the viewers.
We are in another stage of information marred by confusion. This stage might correct itself later as was the case with the Internet that became a useful tool in our daily lives.
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