David Wilcox blogs a speech by Shadow Chancellor George Osborne – who shows himself well-informed about the impact of the net on politics.
With all these profound changes – the Google-isation of the world’s information, the creation of on-line social networks bigger than whole populations, the ability of new technology to harness the wisdom of crowds and the rise of user-generated content – we are seeing the democratisation of the means of production, distribution and exchange.
This new democracy is a good thing.
It is challenging our existing sources of authority, in the media and in politics, and so it should.
For our population is disengaged from our political process, apathetic about its outcomes and – I am afraid to say – equally distrustful of the politicians who participate in it and the media that reports it all.
People are no longer prepared to sit and be spoon fed.
They are taking matters into their own hands through their blogs and on-line networks and user-generated content.
They are organising political campaigns and building coalitions based around common interests.
They are spreading news and information to one another on a scale never before thought possible.
They are the masters now.
