24 August 2014

Tomorrow sees the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Paris. Fast-forward to today's world. What might people in the '40s have made of Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Tumblr and Google? No-one could possibly have imagined how all this technology has changed the world for individual citizens. I remember, post-war, reading futuristic comics of flying cars and supermen, but nobody foretold of how in the future ordinary people would be empowered to learn and liaise via amazing instant technology, within the reach of everyone from Alaska to Africa to China. Hillary Clinton says the internet has become the world's town square, classroom, marketplace and coffeehouse. You'd think that wars would no longer be with us, now that individuals can talk things through so easily. Back in 1916 a Frenchman called Francois Georges-Picot tried to bring order to a chaotic world by re-drawing the Ottoman empire. But now? Yet another faction has emerged, vowing to restore and extend all these lands under its supreme domination. They have all the modern benefits of i-technology to liaise and consult freely with the people, but do they? No. Ancient barbarism reigns, yet again. Where is Superman when you need him?

18th November 2012

Is it just me?  The whole world has gone 'virtual crazy'.  But even I never thought that wars would be partly conducted on social networking sites!  It's a sign of the times, but never before has the start of a military campaign been announced on Twitter - as happened last Wednesday. Both sides of the current Middle East debacle are apparently tweeting and uploading videos onto YouTube non-stop. The tweets are both direct and aggressive, both sides countering each other tweet by tweet!  It seems that such sites are not only used to share information with the rest of the world, they are also on the conflict's frontline. But, I suppose any means that can help innocent people in a conflict are good, e.g. a recent tweet: 'Try sticking plastic tape onto window panes and school books' as a preventative in case of sudden attacks. I can't understand how apparently impoverished people, sometimes living in one room, can afford to have the latest technology.
The danger with all this is that not only are virtual - sometimes amateurish - sites reporting on global news, but they also give a blank canvas to mad people giving vent to individual furies. Unchecked, unprofessional, comments can now be published globally, causing mayhem and blowing events up out of all proportion. This ageing, insecure writer is feeling worried. Please can we go back to a time when all news events (and God-forbid) wars are reported and dealt with by experienced people properly trained, selected and educated?