Is The internet a control mechanism?

[Elok]

Sometimes it's more of a defense mechanism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_mechanism

[Pekka]

Not really. But it could be and in some ways it is distancing itself from the original idea.

But I'd say even today, not really. Except in philosophical sense you could say that it is, because it can be a powerful source for propaganda because propaganda can be used and people think the internet is free, so it's difficult to detect, it's easy to spin things there and so forth... or more to the point, you can set talking points there and basically direct what is being discussed and push strong so the things that aren't supposed to be discussed is trivialized into something so small that it doesn't really matter, it rather only emphasize the paradigm that has been set by being so small.

However, that would be still saying that war is really peace, so currently? I don't think it's a control mechanism but it can be used as such and it would be extremely powerful and in some ways it is used as such. But not very succesfully, and it concerns the Britney Spear fan types, not the mega elite that is of course us .

But surely, the wider implementation of technology, intrusive tech and policies are very much about control, the sophisticated ways that semantic mining, surveillance in general is possible... well that's a huge control mechanism right there that affects our behaviour by making us all subjects as long as we accept being subjectified and thus it also affects our identity and our ethics, as in what is our ethical code, as in how do we feel about ourselves, that later on translates into external behaviour -> that is what surveillance is supposed to accomplish (make people behave in an "acceptable" way that is determined by the powers that be and by defining what is deviance and what is not. Deviance is set to be abnormal as well so if you want to fit to this society... you better not be these things).

So my answer is currently no, but potentially yes and to some extent there have been, there is and there will be attempts to strengthen it as a control mechanism.

[Perfection]

Yes, Al Gore invented it as a means to spread his global warming paranoia in his bid for eventual world domination.

[C0ckney]

Originally posted by Ecthy
Is that supposed to be "Soylent Green"? What a turd.

you've become very uncharitable in your old age ecthy.

[Ecthy]

Originally posted by Heraclitus


Its like “teh”.

Only idiots use that one, also it started of as a typo.

[Ecthy]

Originally posted by C0ckney


you've become very uncharitable in your old age ecthy.

Does that include action against regular bullies off this site?

[C0ckney]

que?

[LordShiva]

Originally posted by Ecthy


Only idiots use that one, also it started of as a typo.

*off

[Perfection]

*Lord Shiva

[DirtyMartini]

The internet is most likely a Chinese invention aimed at destroying the economies of the west by sending workplace productivity right down the crapper.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

man we work harder then ever, and I still need to finsih that presentation off tonight

[Riesstiu IV]

Originally posted by Heraclitus


You are soo waaaay off. The Jewish bankers are in fact rodents.

What the hell is wrong with you? Are you some kind of anti-semite?

[chequita guevara]

The internet is a control mechanism, but not in the way you think. The massive amount of email activists need to sort through has become burdensome and a drain on our organizing time. Also, the ease of internet "activism" as an alternative to doing real work means that real world organizing has plummeted. Finally, the internet allows for the proliferation of BS conspiracy theories, like the 9/11 Truthiness movement. The antiwar movement has partially been derailed by people going of teh deep end, ala Ted Stryker.

None of this, I suspect, was intended when the government allowed the public to get in on the internet. Also, in other countries, activists have been able to use the internet as an tool for real world organizing. There was a lot of promise for the internet being a democratizing medium, and one of the interesting side effects has been the destruction of a lot of left-wing political cults, as members of various groups were able to be in contact with the rank and file of other branches and other groups and realize that the lack of internal democracy was movement and organization wide, rather than a problem with one particular location.

[Heraclitus]

Originally posted by Riesstiu IV


What the hell is wrong with you? Are you some kind of anti-semite?

[Riesstiu IV]

I was talking about reptilian jewish bankers while you were trying to compare human jews to rats. It's a completely different thing.