The Blogging Revolution
An interview with Antony Loewenstein who is a journalist and an author of the book called The Blogging Revolution has proved to be very informative. With Antony Funnell being the interviewer, many questions were asked wit accordance to Antony Loewenstein's new book. He had traveled to six countries which were Iran, Cuba, China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria to find out how much of the internet was used and whether freedom of speech was being practiced in those countries (Funnell A, 2008).
Though the blogging age has indeed come and risen from nothing with vast speed, there are countries that are not able to practice this new form of freedom of speech. A country in particular is Cuba where the usage of internet is closely monitored and controlled by the government. This is because the government has realized what a threat to the country the internet is with bloggers that go against local political parties. A report done in 2001 shows that there are only 40,000 people online in Cuba which is a very small percentage because the total estimated population in Cuba is well over 11,000,000 (www.cubadomainsforsale.com).
Though the majority in China are still not in terms with blogging and the internet, it has shown a steady increase of users every time as people now realize the importance of freedom of speech. With blogs as the only place one can voice out their opinions, it has caught the attention of other countries that Antony Loewenstein has visited for his book.
In the other countries he has visited as well, it has shown an increase of internet users and bloggers but there are still some countries which keep to their roots. Iran in particular is still wanting to keep to the Islamism way but the internet and blogging age is catching on quickly within the country.
Though we may think that companies like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft are only information mediums to us, (Funnell A, 2008) but in China, these companies are helping them improve their security firms and block out internet webpages. But in reality, no matter how much they try to stop it, more and more will come (Funnell A, 2008). This is because of the freedom of speech that comes with blogging and the ability to access an infinite amount of information just by clicking a few words.
In other words, the internet is an inevitable form of technology that no country can permanently stop or block out. With its ability to provide information of any kind to its users and with blogging as a form of freedom of speech, soon, the internet will eventually catch on.
(Source: Olive Centre)
References
- n.a, n.d, Facts About Cuba and The Internet, online, viewed on June 16th 2010, available at http://www.cubadomainsforsale.com/cuba-facts.html
- Funnell A, 2008, The Blogging Revolution, online, viewed on June 16th 2010, available at http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2008/2351985.htm
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