Tools for Change

"The great hope is that if you have a distinct interest in something, like playing the banjo or watching funny commercials, your interests can be served by these technologies. They facilitate you meeting like-minded people or just gaining information," says Bart Beaty, professor in the Faculty of Communication and Culture.

Individuals communicating with each other en masse is a new phenomenon and in theory has potential to engage people toward creating radical influence in the world. In fact some governments fear their populations having this kind of power. So are blogs, YouTube and Facebook providing outlets for social change?

Michael Keren, also a professor in the Faculty of Communication and Culture, says communication in the virtual world is no replacement for activities in the real world. In his research on the Blogosphere he found Iranian bloggers passionately writing about their government's crackdown on freedom of speech and communication with the outside world. They made plans to stage a demonstration.

"When they showed up," says Keren, "the secret police were waiting for them in full force and the statements of support made by bloggers overseas did not help. That support, while important in itself, mattered more in the blogosphere than in the real world. As we see in the case of Burma today, information itself does not motivate action unless accompanied by political will to act on behalf of suppressed people."

Beaty calls users of these technologies the new "generation me" and says the shortfall is that the technologies are insular and focused on the self. "The technologies only matter insofar as they are indicative of a social shift towards people refusing to grow up. Facebook, for example helps to perpetuate a high school-aged way of thinking about your world and your place in it. It is another way to prolong adolescence."

Keren and Beaty were joined by the University of Alberta's Serra Tinic and the University of Califorina's Toby Miller to debate the value of social networking technologies like Facebook, YouTube and blogs in a community dialogue forum on October 10. The community dialogue is one of many exciting discussions offered by the Alberta Global Forum and its partner, the Glenbow Museum.

Glenbow Museum's President and CEO Michael Robinson and a new Facebook user says, "The point of these dialogue sessions is to create a place where the public can come and discuss issues of the day without feeling judged. It's a safe and trustworthy environment, one that's not agenda driven, but rooted in truth and reflection."

Through the partnership, the AGF and Glenbow Museum want to provide public spaces to share ideas and create informed public discourse and a catalyst for action on topical issues.