Democratizing Effect of Internet Essay

In the new serviceman of today, on that point has been a whole new transformation in how quite a little access information. preferably than having access to information alone, they plow it with their peers and gain valuable insights into a topic through and through with(predicate) the ideas and opinions of others involved. (Ferdinand , 2000) There argon contrary conversational technologies through which information obtainable on the internet has and is be happen democratized. These include blogs, inspect rooms, online communities, e-mails, discussion forums, sites like facebook and orkut. com. e reallydaywealth discuss different issues with each other from different parts of the world through these sources and contribute in effective exchange and dissemination of information. These nominate also dish uped in creating a social circle where hoi polloi become friends with each other though located in different parts of the world. This means that internet has removed all ph ysical boundaries and has created a virtual world where some(prenominal) one gutter communicate across the barriers. Through discussions, people strengthen their friendship base and stir up to know about different perspectives relating to a single topic.People express their ideas and opinions freely on communities without all fear which git be seen and thought by all. This sharing of knowledge is mainly carried out through conversations where people involve in healthy discussion or raise questions and others answer them. Then there atomic number 18 blogs created on different topics where people view their thoughts on that particular topic. This is non only universe done by people to burn time rather this has become their hobby. They like taking an officious part in discussion and join communities and post their messages. (David Simon, Corrales , and Wolfensberger , 2002)Organizations are responsible for creating, sharing, storing and retrieving valuable information which helps in the functioning of the business. The internet has helped in doing so. They train employed different knowledge management and information systems which help in the creation and sharing of information. These systems have also ca utilise the internet to democratize information so that everyone workings in an organization can make use of that. Every employee from middle take to the strategic level has a computer working on his desk with internet connectivity.They use internet to bring in inventive and innovate ideas which raises their position in the organization. Previously, people used to refrain from sharing data or knowledge with others because of the difference in their cultural backgrounds. Most of the conversation was done face to face so people felt uncomfortable in sharing their ideas and opinions. tho since internet technologies have become incorporated in the organization, the employees can discuss different issues through the internet on their computers with ot hers without any face to face contact.This has change magnitude their comfort level in presenting their ideas and opinions without any fear of criticism. Organizations have developed intranet and portals where employees and manages share information and discuss any of their issues or businesss. Now let us discuss how information is democratized on internet through different conversational technologies. Examples are illustrated to support the topic to make it understand in a let on means. BLOGS The first truly elected tool used through the internet is blogging.These are web pages created on different topics by authors, teachers, politicians, creative writers, organizations, communities etc to discussing a particular issue and share with others whatever information they have on that particular topic. They also invite ideas, opinions and suggestions from others who view the website to share their comments over the topic. Different bloggers write on different topics and make their information accessible to others. Since everyone can view blogs and comment on it, this information circulates and everyone victimisation internet comes to know about it sooner or later.This creates a democratizing effect on the population by blogs. An example would further illustrate this point. (Saco , 2002) Chinese people were not happy with Dell computers and started blogging about it on the internet. They criticized Dell computers and laptops for their wrong processors and poor customer service and everyone eventually learned about that living in different countries like U. K, U. S. A etc. Dell customers dissatisfied with the product started discussing the drawbacks in the products online.The angry customers have together from different areas and raised voices against the company leading to severe action like lawsuit. This is the power of blogs or in other al-Qurans the power of internet. This led the Dell Company into serious trouble when they axiom that their purchases we re declining and not only their head markets but others were also getting wrong impressions of the company. The customers created a bad word of mouth by blogging on the internet and people all over the world believed that to be true. This created a democratic effect and every one developed a negative attitude towards Dell products.Because of the democratic effect of the internet, people all over the world feel free and empowered to share their opinions and post their comments related to their experiences on websites readable to millions of users. These users also tend to believe their comments and take similar actions. Recently multinationals are themselves creating blogs about their products on web pages and inviting their customers comments after experiencing their products. This way the organizations can know whether their target market likes or dislikes their products, whether they feel content and satisfied or not.Moreover, people read blogs related to a product before going f or its purchase to avoid any negative feelings thereafter. There are blogs available on a breadth of topics, people blog about the things they like as well as they dislike and this information spreads so quickly through internet that one cannot even imagine the speed. Online Communities People create online communities on topics that interest them. They are like discussion forums where people post their comments related to that topic. They come to know about different perspectives existing on a single topic and sometimes train with it and some times contradict it.These forums are like debating societies where a group of people speaks in upgrade of a particular topic piece others speak in against. The tone of the discussion varies. By fighting(a) in discussion forums people share their information and also take information from others which increases their knowledge base. Communities can also be created on a wide range of topics and have a similar wallop as blogs. People ask que stions and others answer them thus, allowing the information to circulate worldwide. Chat Rooms This is the most common type of tool used for colloquy of personal as well as professional information. sort of of posting comments there, tattle rooms offer instantaneous communication. They are used in organizations for communication and problem solving purposes. Students and teachers use chat rooms for working on assignments and projects etc. An example for explaining the democratizing effect of chat rooms is the case of Colgate-Palmolive (CL). It was spread through chat rooms in 2005 by Chinese people that Colgate Total Toothpaste which is a product of CL was linked with cancer because it contained a cancer ca victimisation ingredient. non only chat rooms, discussion forums as well blogs played a major role in spreading this information throughout the world so that more and more people should abstain from using this toothpaste as it could be dangerous to life. CL noticed that the sa le of its Colgate Total tooth paste nearly faded because of the internets democratizing effect. This effect is causing much harm to multinational companies whose products are not creation sold in the world market because of the opinion of people living in one country. netmail E-mail is one of the most frequently used ways by the whole population for communication purposes.It the replacement of traditional system of writing letters but is faster, speedy, and more efficient. Information is spread very quickly through e-mails. If a person receives an instructive mail then he quickly transport it to all his peers and friends in social circle who then forward it to their peers and the cycle goes on like this. This way the information continues to spread among population without any stop. Whenever we receive any forward mail, the message first starts with a huge list to which the message has already been forwarded. This way one receives huge information regarding different topics.Rec ently, I received a forward mail in which there was mentioned how mobile phones can burst while used on charge. There were even pictures given to support the point. I immediately forwarded the mail to everyone I knew because it is important for everyone to know the consequences of using mobile phones while being on charge. Another such informative mail was circulated which contained that mentos and cold drinks should not be consumed simultaneously as it leads to death. It showed pictures of an experiment by putting mentos into a bottle of coke which burst with showers.People receive these mails through different sources and we circulate these mails to as legion(predicate) people as possible because we want the world to become aware of these little things which can have bigger consequences. CONCLUSION The above discussion makes it clear how internet can result in the democratizing of information. Critics moot that it is not democratizing of information but it is creating a pro soci al change among the masses. They say it depends on a person who is using internet. If they are using it for democratizing purposes then it will surely have a democratizing effect.But since internet allows access to all and information is available to all regardless of the purpose for which it is being used then it is rightly said that internet has a democratizing effect. It has created a virtual world where information is not mended and continues to spread among the masses through blogs, e-mail, chat rooms and discussion forums. Any one can create information over the internet and anyone can read that piece of information. There exists no limit and boundaries. Thus, internet has increasingly become a democratizing tool for masses and people use it with increased naught and determination. (Tranvik , 2005)