In my conference paper, I claim that internet allows and encourages individuals to contribute to the prosperity of society by conducting research, expediting production, collaborating to share knowledge and innovate, and unite in protest to influence public policy. I support my claim with examples from publications and with evidence from real-life events.
In his book Uncreative Writing, Kenneth Goldsmith cites Cory Doctorow's claim that Doctorow would rather create material that people "care about enough to steal" than create material that nobody values (qtd. in Goldsmith 137). This statement reflects the idea that producing something of value and contributing to society is better than wasting one's time and effort on something that does not contribute to society.
Technology allows us to produce something of value by maximizing the efficiency of that process of innovation. The internet allows us to expedite production, expand customer service, manage larger and more complex business functions, and so on. This influence reflects, in part, McLuhan's claim that the "message" of technology is how it alters human affairs by accelerating and enlarging "the scale of previous human functions" (8).
Of course, the extent to which technology benefits society depends on how we apply the technology and how well we understand its effects. Leaders have used nuclear technology to save thousands via food irradiation and medical x-rays but also to kill thousands via the atom bomb, and these examples illustrate how a technology's effect on society depends on the consequences of its application.
Hence why technology can be controversial; science fiction writers often ask whether an inventor should share a new technology that could potentially be used to harm society, or withhold the new technology even though doing so would stifle progress. Oppenheimer realized this dilemma after his discovery was used as a weapon: "Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds" (Walker).
The internet is a technology that expands and accelerates our productivity in areas including communication, collaboration, and commerce. Tim Berners-Lee predicted this effect in 1999 when he hoped that the Web would become "a much more powerful means for collaboration between people [...] to which everyone has immediate and intuitive access" (Crumlish and Malone 3). The internet encourages increased social interaction through networking sites like Facebook, and it facilitates collaboration through programs like Drupal, SharePoint, and GroupWise.
But the internet also empowers users. Online communities use the internet to conduct research and collaborate in order to change real-life situations (Crumlish and Malone 257). Kony 2012 and OWS provide examples of how awareness movements can benefit from the internet's extensive social networking and collaborative capabilities.
These capabilities allow subjects to empower themselves and resist authority, as demonstrated by the SOPA Strike. During the strike, individuals used the internet to learn about SOPA and PIPA, contact their representatives, and spread information about the bills. In addition, large organizations like Wikipedia and even web comics like XKCD used the blackout to draw attention and even to communicate directly with individuals through Facebook comments and online forums.
Other participants included Google, Wikipedia, reddit, Mozilla, WordPress, Tumblr, Flickr, 4chan, Wired, Craigslist, the Digital Public Library of America, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Greenpeace International. And even though many people might not use the internet extensively enough to encounter the protest, major media outlets covered the blackout both online and in print, further expanding its exposure.
In this case, the internet encouraged individuals to inform themselves and one another, influence public policy, and limit the power of the government itself. And safeguarding individual freedoms and increasing community participation represents one of the most important functions of media and digital technology.