Time's Person of the Year: You, but not all of You
I know I'm weighing in on this late, but I haven't had the time to put enough thought into this until now.
On December 13, 2006, Time Magazine announced their "Person of the Year" for 2006: You. By "You" they meant the modern internet user; writing blogs, uploading videos, sharing pictures, and interacting in every other way possible via the web, taking citizen media and journalism beyond any limits imaginable. I read this article with a lot of interest and I definitely agreed; blogging, online gaming and media-sharing have changed the face society. Everyone is out there listening to what Internet users have to say, and it's definitely a massive "social experiment" as has been said many times before.
Unfortunately, "You" just doesn't include enough people. As of November 2006, only 16.6% of people around the world have access to the Internet (see Internet World Stats). Most of the people being left out are third-world, poor, or oppressed. If "web 2.0" is the voice of the people, there are a lot of "people" being left out. Blogging is still dominated by tech geeks, political pundits and activists. YouTube and Flickr are exclusive to those who can afford cameras. You get the drift; we've succeeded in making the Internet into a powerful tool for the affluent and well-to-do, but we haven't gotten anywhere on bringing it to the rest of the world. If you ask me, 16.6% is terrible.
There isn't really anyone to blame. All I'm saying is that I hope to see more work done in 2007 towards helping the other 83.4% of potential users around the world get connected. I want to hear what they have to say… I have a feeling it will be a big eye-opener for the 16.6% enjoying the web right now.
Hey, thanks for this. I was wondering about those exact stats since Person of the Year was announced. The actual numbers (relatively and absolutely) are truly shocking.
I hate Time's person of the year.
Nice post for some perspective.
If you have change in your pocket you're richer than 70% of the people in this world.