Control Freak

TED.com is a fascinating source sharing new ideas within the technology, entertainment, and design realm. I came across this piece called "If I Controlled the Internet", by LA-based poet, Rives, which piqued my attention as it pertains to user and privacy control in our evolving Web2.0 environment.

The increasing popularity of user-generated media, such as Wikis and social networking sites, has shifted the manner in which individuals and businesses operate, communicate, and educate others. Universal sharing and global networking are becoming increasingly important terms in day to day activities. Not only are users taught to share their knowledge and voice their opinions, but they can also control the information they receive. Web blogs, portals, and feeds allow users to streamline content, giving them the ability to control what they see and hear.

The issue of control is pervasive. Technologies that are popular are the ones that allow users to feel more in control of the content they share with and receive from others. Are we interested in these applications because they allow us to unleash our inherent desire for control? Nonetheless, by allowing everyone to communicate and share ideas, thoughts, and images on a global platform, does that also shift the dynamics of privacy control in the marketplace?

By allowing “weapons of mass collaboration” to freely propagate the Web, the public has observed a movement away from individual content control and a decrease in the user’s ability to restrict private information from being shared and publicized online. With the evolution of the Internet creating this shift from individual to collaborative control, one may ask: who are today’s users, controllers, and owners of online data?

Even if we are “Empires of the Internet”, Rives reminds us that “we are still mortal” and prone to making mistakes. Should we allow our mishaps to be shared and discussed by others; and should we be asking ourselves: when is too much information, truly too much?

View the video here and follow along with the written dialogue below.