Of flat worlds and digital citizens

Thomas Friedman has a new book out - The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century. I find the premise quite interesting because it ties into something I've been noticing quite a bit recently as I've started taking a look at smaller blogs (stuff that often qualifies more as a personal journal than what is now commonly defined as a blog) from residents of places such as China and Iran.


The feeling I get when reading many of those blogs (although I am obviously limited to reading those in English) is that there is a new (and growing) class of people who are connected by the Internet, a strongly technical background, and by a common language (English). Borders mean little to these people...and for many, having always lived within an oppressive regime, government means little. They view government as a burden rather than a solution. Their lives have far more in common with other members of the "digital culture" who live across the world than with the majority of their own country. And while I've only specifically mentioned China and Iran, the same clearly applies to the US. Does a technology-savvy web designer in San Francisco have more in common with another web designer in China or Iran (or India or Korea or the Philippines for that matter) than he/she does with someone living "off the web" in rural America? I think so. And as technology progresses, it grows increasingly easy to develop stronger ties that bind between those with this common avocation than those with a common nation.


Now keep in mind...this is still a small minority we speak of. How many people read/write weblogs? How many even have access to the appropriate technology to immerse themselves in this new culture? In many ways, the race between nations has become just that...developing the necessary technical infrastructure to allow a greater number of citizens to access the tools of this culture.

But I don't think the ruling elite in many of these countries understand the consequences just yet. Why should they? Most are far too busy to see the digital connections that are growing between members of nations that are "officially" hostile to one another. They don't understand that, for many of the technically proficient members of their society, it is easier to converse with someone in another nation than with a neighbor.


I wrote a college term paper (some time ago) regarding the Islamic resurgence and the ability to forge a worldwide Umma connected through technology and shared beliefs. But for some reason, it never occurred to me that it really doesn't even take that level of shared values and beliefs to build a worldwide community these days.

Hm...I just noticed that this post is only two or three removed from a post elaborating upon the rise of nationalism within Asia. I'm not sure if this means I can't make up my mind, if it means digital citizens are a distinct minority, or if it means I've got as much of a split personality as nationalistic countries with a core of digital citizens....



Tags:

Digital Roots
Thomas Friedman
The World is Flat