twitter's two-way communication is a danger to government. And that's a good thing

Sadly I'm old enough to remember those early days of the internet, when governments and in particular retailers saw the information super highway as a fantastic means of communicating with people; selling them ideas, information and products. Indeed the UK (and many other governments around the world) wanted to make sure that as many people as possible had access to this new communications facility.

I remember being skeptical about the 'information revolution' that was claimed for the world-wide-web. I'm not skeptical any more. It has, I would say, delivered all that was claimed in spades, and a lot more besides. Some good things and some bad, as usual; that will always be the case with new technology.

Even the media - broadcast and print - has been forced to relinquish its grip on opinion and information and become online resources - but not the only ones - for information and opinion: The Murdochs and BBC's of this world no longer have as much influence as they once had although they're making a good fist of using the new communications channels to deliver their messages and (too often I think for the BBC and others) their views on world events.

But here's the thing: The proponents of the internet, the retailers and governments talked and thought about it as being a fantastic means of communicating 'with' their audiences. And by 'with' I really mean 'to' and 'at' their audiences. A one-way street whereby they could tell us what they thought, influence our opinions, views, purchasing and voting behaviours and that would be it. Job done. A semi-captive audience to which they could get their messages across effectively, clearly and persuasively. And because we were 'signed in' we would likely be much more receptive to their 'messages' than passive TV viewers or readers of printed media.

And that has worked in general terms. The growth of companies like Amazon has been amazing; the death of the traditional high street in many places has been alarming but inevitable.

But what they didn't realise was that, eventually, the internet would facilitate communication in the opposite direction. That it would give these 'markets' and 'consumers' and God forbid 'voters' the chance to respond. To communicate back.

And that's a major headache for them.

OK I don't want to go into retailer tax evasion; horsemeat, car recalls etc here so I'll take the retailer out of this blog from here on in if you don't mind, it's now just about government and the internet if you will.

There was some initial talk about the internet being used to facilitate referendums (referenda?) on some issues (as a means of promoting internet take-up but not as a really serious offer since governments don't want referendums that they aren't absolutely certain they can win) but that was pie in the sky of course. It was always about influencing people, getting their message across and winning the day.

So facebook was welcomed as was myspace etc., as a fun thing that would let people tell each other what they'd had for lunch (nom nom), no threat there. Comments pages were embraced as a means of people making their views on a particular newspaper article and gaining a bit of 'kick about' - but who reads comments pages?

So along comes twitter. Probably not designed as being subversive but as a more effective communications tool. I seriously doubt that its founders saw it as potentially the most powerful communications tool yet devised but it is.

Because it's not just talking to one's 'mates' or family. It's talking to the world. It's gathering information from everywhere, from governments and opponents, from trusted media sources and from people on the ground; people suffering in a war zone and propagandists who want to influence you irrespective of truth or reality. It gets news before any other media, that 'news' may not be accurate, credible or true, but it's 'out there' for you to make a judgement on. It's dangerous and exciting. Compelling even. Addictive? Yes I think so.

But it's certainly not a one way street. It allows groups to be formed. Opinions to be arrived at, promises to be noted and remembered. Minor (sometimes major) misdemeanors to be recorded. Credibility to be questioned. It gives voice, and therefore power, to the individual. It questions authority.

And when principles are in short supply, when honour and responsibility, as opposed to feathering one's own nest and, frankly, a 'fuck everyone else' mentality is the order of the day, this becomes a major problem for the establishment.

I often hear the refrain that there are 65 million of us (population) and 650 of them (MPs). That's true of course. But hitherto it has made no difference at all. I think it will start to make a difference because we now have a two-way street. Because of twitter.

It's a nightmare for the government: It gives us the ability to fight back against their ever increasing levels of surveillance and spying on us. People are now much better informed than was the case only a few short years ago, when we went to war in Iraq, for example. Instead of a million-person march (not in my name) that was just ignored, twitter carries much more weight and bright, clever, influential people can add their views to the national debate and create a groundswell of opinion that is becoming impossible for governments to ignore. And that's a good thing. Possibly a great thing in my opinion.

It is giving some power back to the people and this recent bullshit that 'they work for you' when in fact they promise you anything to get into power but then completely ignore your views, values and wishes (eg immigration, energy policy etc) will begin to be dismantled over time. Indeed it is already happening on issues like Syria and the EU as twitter becomes an increasingly powerful thorn in the side of government that just won't go away.

So we need to fight any suggestion of censorship or control of twitter in order to maintain its level of influence, credibility and power. In an increasingly controlled world, thanks to the threat of terrorist attack, it could be our last hope of taking back control over these people who supposedly work for us.    

Thanks for reading.