Democracy's Long Tail

The Internet is definitely impacting democracy in other parts of the world. While we may enjoy access to just about anything on the Web here in the U.S., other countries don't enjoy that same freedom. The government in countries such as China, Iran, and Myanmar have found ways to limitize access to the Internet and other forms of media as well.

One situation has to deal with censorship issues between Google and China. China has censored certain websites and doesn't allow for them to show up in the search engine on google.cn. But now, Google will no longer censor search results in China. Timothey B. Lee from the N.Y. Times noted that Google can do some good by "investing in improved circumvention technologies". He also stated that they can invest in more "extensive, robust, and user-friendly network of proxy servers", which wouldn't be a bad idea. Finally, he stated that Google can help by "embedding privacy-preserving and censorship-circumventing". He notes that a good example of this was "Google's decision to encryt Gmail access by default". But, in the end, the people in China would have to stand up against censorship in order for it to go away, which means that they would have to find ways to fight against their regime in China to gain rights to view information and sites on the Web freely.



The same situations are going on in Iran and Myanmar concerning media. Media is banned in Iran and in Myanmar. But, citizen journalists, or netizens, find ways to use media to reflect what's going on in their country. For example, a person in Iran may use a mobile camera to record protests, or to show certain wrong-doings and killings by their government and have it sent to a secure area to be seen across the world. Of course, doing this both these countries can be very dangerous. It can result in a person having their devices taken from them, and their lives would also be at risk as well. The images they show though will help show the oppression and corruption that goes on in these countries, and may force other countries to take action to force a democracy in these countries so the people can have more justice and freedom.






A great idea that Jared Newman mentioned on pcworld.com was the new YouTube Direct. This allows "amateur videographers and reporters to upload footage to news Web sites, then the sites will decide what's suitable for broadcast". This also helps to show what goes on in other countries because now the images would be shown on news channels across the world in excess with the Internet.

Free speech should be a right to everyone across the world. Also, people around the world should be able to have access to what's on the Web like people in many countries do as well.

Info on topic can be found at the following links:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/182362/youtube_direct_why_citizen_journalists_shouldnt_care.html
http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/can-google-beat-china/

Additional footage on citizen journalists can be found at the following links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeOW79fG8Wo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKpj9aMtqUA&feature=channel

Image taken from the following link:
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2010/01/13/world/asia/13beijing-1.html

Assignment 1

I feel that the Internet will impact television, music, news, and democracy because it offers much more than what is offered by all of the other forms of media, and there will be something offered for everyone. I read the WIRED magazine article by Chris Anderson, "The Long Tail", and he made some very interesting points.

His definition of "The Long Tail" basically means that there will be something available for every audience. Chris explains in the article that most people think that only 20 percent of top online media will rent or sell at least once a month. He says that this is because most people are trained to believe in the "80-20" rule. But, he states that the percentage is actually about 99 percent.

Chris also had three rules to the Long Tail. The first was to make everything available. He explained that Nexflix has more titles that aren't available at Blocbuster, such as independent films, because Blockbuster mainly carries popular titles and really doesn't have the room for many independent ones. With Netflix having all sorts of titles, there's something that every person would like that is readily available. His second rule was to cut the price of products in half and then lower them. Everyone knows about how to puchase music off of iTumes or Rhapsody. The price for a song is typically 99 cents. But, Chris explains that people are actually paying to much for a single song. At the end of the day, if you purchase enough songs, it will add up to buying an album at Best Buy or Wal-Mart.
The last rule he mentioned was to "help me find it." While it's very easy to find mainstream products, products that aren't so popular that people may want are difficult at times to find. So, he suggests that commercial services need to meet "both ends of the curve". A great example he gave was with how Rhapsody has certain artists that may be mainstream, but also has a box that has "similar artists", that can take you to another artist similar to the last, and you can do the same for each artist that a person clicks on in that box.

Another important issue that Chris mentioned in the YouTube video, "Identifying the Long Tail", was the "power law". He mentions that the "power law" deals with the small number of things having a large impact. He also mentions that every form of media has a "scarcity effect"; T.V. has a certain amount of stations, radio has so many stations on its frequency, and movie theaters play movies that are new and that are popular. Here is a chart that will help explain this:



Chris also explains that Wal-Mart has about 25,000 popular music titles on its shelves, while Rhapsody has 1.5 million, iTunes has 2 million and peer-to-peer
networks have about 9 million. All in all, Chris explains that about a quarter less of each market is not available in retail stores than online services. This goes with Netflix having 25% more movies than Blockbuster has in its stores, and Amazon having about 25% more books available than inside of Barnes and Noble.

The Internet already plays a major role in the impact of the different forms of media because it offers much information and many products instantly, whenever a person requests to have it. The Long Tail is definitely the future for technology and is the best alternative for consumers.

Information cited from the following links to help write this blog:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Yku0GTrcuw&feature=fvw
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail.html

Chart explaining "The Power Law" comes from the following link:
http://networkedpublics.org/about_netpublics/chris_anderson_the_longer_tail

Additional video on topic can be located at the following link: