Week3 Blog #5 Social Media

As I have been reading about social media, the basic idea is, it is a tool that is used to communicate in the web socially; a way to share information quicker and at the same time store its use. I thoroughly enjoyed the video by Gordon Brown 'Wiring: A Web For Global Good'. Social media works, and it has demonstrated that it is a powerful tool as a voice of people all across the globe.
Brown says...'What we see, unlocks what we cannot see' and 'What we see unlocks the invisible ties and bonds of sympathies that bring us together to become a human community' He goes on to mention how the pictures we see on the web demonstrate the pain of others; how combining the power of a global ethic with the power of our ability to communicate and organize globally the world can work together.
Through the web, this global ethic would work together to solve poverty,security, terrorism, climate change, human rights, and financial crisis.
Gordan continues to advocate 'to build for the first time out of a global ethic, and people's global ability to communicate and organize together, a truly global society, built on that ethic, but with institutions that conserve that global society and make for a different future' we are the 1st generation in the world to be able to do this. A global society built for the common good.
Josh Catone (2009) asked the following question 'what if social media tools would allow the cost of an education to drop nearly all the way down to zero?' Social media's is a powerful tool for global challenges such as education as well. We now have access to obtain free education through the web for people across the globe who do not have the resources to obtain an education. Universities are now coming with open course ware, there's even an organization www.ocwconsortium.org. Education is becoming global and free; all this because of social media and the web.

http://mashable.com/2009/07/24/education-social-media
www.ocwconsortium.org