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REACTION PAPER: Download: The True Story of the Internet – People Power

Before I state my reaction which by the way, looks more of an essay that can be
posted to a blog rather than a formal reaction paper, I would like to acknowledge the fact
that I watched this video thrice, just so I can rate whether the video was “good” or “bad” or
“okay”. To me, it provided me with in-depth information which made me say, “It was good”.
But since the word “good” does not explain why it was a good video, I would try to explain
my points in this reaction paper.

As I am typing this piece of information, billions of other information are transmitted

and shared through the web, allowing other people to connect and take hold of the piece of
liberty available through the cyberspace.

Nowadays, communication has become very profound and widespread through all
our technological advances. It changes every second, yet people demand more from it.
People thrive to communicate and express who they are. If in the old times, it was too
difficulty or too hefty of a work, today, it has become easier and faster, not to mention, more
accessible through the World Wide Web.

The video mentioned about some of the leading companies like YouTube, Facebook,
Digg, Flickr and myspace who “turned the web into a two-way participatory democratic
medium, controlled by no one and shaped by everyone. In other words, OUR medium.”
These companies made a revolutionary step to transform the Internet, from merely sharing
information to transcending this function and “connecting individuals or connecting
individuals to information”, as what Chad Hurley, co-founder and CEO of YouTube said.

This new wave of internet services made media possible and more accessible to
EVERYONE, unlike in the old times when “the traditional media company controls the gates
of distribution.” They gave everyone an opportunity to be heard and be exposed to the
whole community, a community that extends to other parts of the world and surpasses
geographical limitations.

It made me realize that everyone wants to be heard. Mark Zuckerberg, founder and
CEO of Facebook added that the social networking site that he developed is trying to map
out all of these relationships that people have, trying to create an ultimate relationship
engine; a clear statement that people wants to tie relationships even in the cyberspace. The
web has become a two-way medium, where we are able to get information and respond to
that information.

It’s as though a short time has passed that the World Wide Web was transformed.
Back in the 1990’s, the web changed the world. But thanks to the bored geeks and their
creative minds, the world is now changing the web, abruptly and dramatically.

The descendants of these websites (mp3, panic software, Winamp, napster) gave
way to this radical change, especially Shawn Fanning’s Napster which revolutionized media
distribution where it allowed a peer-to-peer system of networking and file sharing and
distribution. Napster, in his time, had become so powerful that many companies have
become threatened of the huge advances and opportunities it can make. I understand that
Napster was bypassing the Copyrights law but I was a bit disappointed at how other people
were not willing to accept that change. Maybe, they fear that they will be drowned by this

[RABE, BLAZEL EDVE MARIE T.]

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new progress in file sharing and distribution. Or, maybe they are just too greedy that they
do not want (by that time) to take part at an experimental innovation and gamble their
profits. They were not able to see the opportunity for the fear of being engulfed by this web
transformation. Either way, Napster paved the foundation of creating new ideas on file
sharing and distribution, as evidenced by the Apple creating iTunes and followed by other
more.

Maybe we haven’t noticed the impact of this event, not until now, when even I, as a
consumer, crave for news, connection, file sharing, and liberty. Meeting us halfway through
these new technological settings may have been impossible until the genuine web
communities fed us with this need. They were able to turn their consumers or audience from
“passive recipients to active and engaged participants”. It allows us to puts fantastic power
on our hands, being able to set communication freely through the web. I believe everyone
has a desire of grasping control over something, and the Web2.0 was able to give us that
opportunity, where everyone can be an author of an article you see on the web or a director
of a movie they posted in the web.

Much as I admit it to myself, I benefit from this. The reason why this type of media
setting “boomed” is because it somewhat fulfills some of our deepest desires or maybe
filling the need for acceptance and having other people give feedbacks on you. Taking hold
of liberty, as what I mentioned earlier.

With communication gone wild and file sharing and distribution going in haywire or
should I say, expanding to a speed not accurately measurable in seconds, it’s alarming to
think that these could completely take over our lives.

Maybe the real issue here is the free access, or drop the word access and take alone
the word free and equate it to freedom. As the notion says, “Total freedom is scary”. This
revolutionary change is like a blank piece of paper where the “creator” may do whatever he
wants. And yes, this is just the start. Though these developers were trying to create
limitations, people would want more and they would want to surpass these limitations. It’s
like playing God in the cyberspace. This new media surpasses control, which, if left
unattended, becomes destructive of itself.

For all we know, the internet provides us with much use and entertainment. But
today, the internet not only provides us with these functions. It has more to offer, and yet,
more to come in the coming years, or should I say, it changes now, as I am finishing this
reaction paper. And John Helleman (host of the video) was right. We don’t know how far the
hell the internet would go. We’ll just have to wait and see.

[RABE, BLAZEL EDVE MARIE T.]