The right to free speech?

What are you reading this on?

There are more than a billion people on Facebook. I read that on my tablet the other day. I was flicking through some blogs and posts on Flipboard and there it was in the middle of an article about online trends.

Psy’s hit a billion too on Youtube I gather, while Obama won his first presidential election on social media and the Arab Spring owes some of it’s success to Twitter. The fact that everything from Facebook to Twitter allows you to check-in now makes me think that most of these people are watching, talking and organising from mobile devices. Huge numbers of people doing amazing things from their pockets and backpacks.

I tend to write this blog on my laptop but I don’t mind drafting on my phone; so far I lack the patience to type long paragraphs on such a small keyboard. I worry though that people are tuning out after the first 140 characters. Which brings me back to my original question of what are you reading this on, or perhaps more important to think about is whether would you be reading, writing and responding to any of this new media if it weren’t for your device. I don’t think it’s an impossible scenario that in the future the western world will consider access to an online device as a basic right; denial being akin to denying someone their right to speak freely.

We like to think of the online world and social media as being an egalitarian playground where participation has more to do with your cachet in wit and wisdom than your bankroll or influence. This forgets however one very important, very expensive initial entry criteria… our devices.

When I think about the potential for social media to connect, rally and influence I cannot help but wonder what we are missing out on from those who just don’t have access. How would Instagramming our amazing meal photos be understood if people starving in refugee camps could reply with images of their meagre repast? If social media tools like FB and Twitter could play such a powerful role in the Middle East and America, what role might they play in other regions of political or social unrest less able to get online and organise.

Free speech is an ideal much touted but even in places where people can express themselves freely they are not always guaranteed an audience. The mobile-online world allows live content development and publishing as well as access to a huge audience always on the lookout for new things. Think about a cause or charity you believe, maybe donate to. Their webpage probably has a ‘like’ symbol as well as a little blue/white bird and an orange RSS logo all ready for you to click on. They are networked and ready to harness the huge numbers available online to their cause; making a difference through people. If you cannot afford to get on social media though you are essentially stuck in the nineteenth century, waiting for some benevolent colonial to notice and take pity on your plight.

Mobile connectivity has provided so much to the world, shallow as it may seem at times. It is important to remember though that this opportunity is not completely democratic, not free for all. Consider this next time you peruse the voices on Twitter and the channels on Youtube; listen critically to who is talking but question also whose voices are missing. Remember this also when you tweet your own voice what an amazing privilege it is just to have the chance to be heard.