A deliberately provocative headline in Wired magazine this week “Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, make blogs look so 2004” heralded an article arguing that the “golden age” of blogging – where ‘amateur wordsmiths’ could ‘pour their hearts out’ in cyberspace and be rewarded with high Google rankings is over. A new generation of micro-blogging tools like twitter, and alternative formats such as YouTube and Flickr have replaced the more traditional long-form text weblog, itself overtaken by blog magazines such as the Huffington Post said Paul Boutin. This being the internet, the article was quickly picked up on – and blogged – by amateur and professional hacks alike, which resulted in a surreal exchange on the BBC’s Today programme on Radio 4 this morning as presenter John Humphreys struggled with social media linguistics and asked his guests how many real friends they had.
This seems a neat reflection of the evolving nature of information exchange and flow that new technologies and online applications have made possible in the last few years. For many of us around the world daily exchanges on social media networks such as Facebook, plus access to news through TV, radio, online, print newspapers and on mobile phones is an unconscious act. We are used to consuming information in a variety of formats – often complaining that there is too much of it.
However tomorrow (24th October) on World Development Information Day (also UN day), it is worth remembering that in a media-rich world, many of the planet’s poorest still lack access to potentially life-saving information.
In a new policy briefing from the BBC World Service Trust “Left in the dark: the unmet need for information in humanitarian response” (PDF, 750MB), Imogen Wall and Lisa Robinson argue that millions of people, already suffering or at risk through manmade crisis or natural disaster, are having their problems compounded because they are denied access to basic information that could help them save or rebuild their lives.
In the aftermath of disaster – such as the 2004 tsunami, 2005 Pakistan earthquake and 2008’s Burma cyclone and Sichuan earthquake – access to vital information about what has happened, whether it is safe to travel, where the nearest hospital is, where to go to for food and medical supplies etc is hugely important and often lacking. The report calls for aid and development agencies to build-in communication plans to emergency and humanitarian response strategies. Innovation and use of new technologies are just as important in these difficult contexts to maximise the reach of information and access remote or cut-off communities.
The comment responses to the Wired piece were nearly all in disagreement with the article’s claim, loudly attesting to the health of the blogosphere. It is a young format that is here to stay it seems – another publishing platform which those who find useful will heartily defend. It is natural for us to defend access to information – today, we should also remember to advocate it for those “Left in the dark”.
Download the full report here (PDF, 750KB) and read the full story on the BBCWST site here.
