New Media

As our soldiers in Afghanistan fight fascists and terrorists, today we remember those Canadians who fought the Nazis on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944.

You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

While writing an article for Business In Vancouver Magazine about the evolution of the Internet in China, I was asked to define, in a word, exactly what Web 2.0 meant. At first, I was a little taken aback. After all, entire books could be written on the subject. How was I supposed to define such an ubiquitous yet nebulous catch-phrase of the technorati era?

Fortunately, copious amounts of caffeine and a looming deadline were the spark of inspiration. Web 2.0 in a word? Freedom.

Web 2.0 is an Internet filled with websites and platforms that are community-based, promoting communication through new media (blogs/forums/video and audio sharing platforms) and sharing of ideas and technology.

If the old Internet was a city filled with brilliant but unresponsive giant billboards built by individuals with 100 per cent control of their message, Web 2.0 is a collection of giant town hall meetings involving hundreds of millions of people, where the message is what most people say it is.

Web 2.0 basically means free (as in “democratic”) Internet. That’s what makes the current situation in China so compelling, as technology and web development businesses ultimately have to adapt the free model of the Internet we’re used to in North America to the needs and rules that exist in that country.

Vancouver’s own tech community is involved in China’s burgeoning new media scene that may ultimately have an effect on the larger political culture of a country that many people think will be the dominant power in the 21st century. My article in BIV, Internet Technology To Grapple With The Great Firewall of China, just scratches the surface of a much larger story that’s evolving very fast.

The Canadian is finally embracing Web 2.0 tools with gusto, announcing the coming development of social networks, blogs and wikis to help bring 250,000 federal employees in 58 government departments into the next phase of the Information Age (ITbusiness.ca). The move bodes well for showing off the growing link between a democratic political system and an open source Internet.

Traditionally, governments of any political stripe, even in countries with well-established principles of free speech, have strived to control the discussion whenever possible. Web 2.0 makes that control more difficult to consolidate. Clearly, it’s a better long-term move for democratic governments like Canada’s to try to use tools like blogs and wikis rather than trying to control the beast that is Web 2.0.

For those Canadians concerned about poor communication skills from our current government in Ottawa, this news is definitely good news.

Read more about the link between Web 2.0 and democracy in my latest article on Techvibes, Canada’s Crazy Big Web 2.0 Project Starts Now.