Social-media's mode of communication dumbing down human discourse?
Noam Chomsky has long been a critic of mainstream media, accusing them of dominating public opinion by “crowding out” the thoughts and opinions of everyday people. However, on the subject of social media, he seems to be equally critical. Some, like Nathan Jorgensen of Salon.com, have criticized Chomsky for what they see as a double standard, deriding big media for discounting the everyman and then turning around doing the same to individuals on social media. Jurgensen says that, “Chomsky and Co. are making assertions that one way of communicating, thinking and knowing is better than another.” Of course, anyone that has tried to use smoke signals to tell a story, or has taken dictation from interpretive dance, understands that to be the case. In my opinion, Jurgensen is simply defending communication in social media because he depends on it and his readership is that community.
Founder of the Tunisian Black Hats and Anonymous member, K3vin Mitchnik, shares his story.
A recent interview in Tech Crunch, entitled Confessions of a Tunisian Hacktivist, gives an enlightening glimpse into the world of “hacktivism”, Anonymous, and the democratic principles behind a seemingly anarchic movement. K3vin Mitchnik, the pseudonym for this Tunisian hacker, is the 25-year old founder of the hacktivist group the Tunisian Black Hats which played a major role in the “Jasmine Revolution” in Tunis which eventually overthrew Ben Ali, that country’s dictator. In addition, he is a member of the global hacktivist group Anonymous.