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SUPERFLUIDITY OF INFORMATION IN SOCIAL NETWORKS
Samvel Martirosyan
http://www.noravank.am/en/?page=analitics&nid=2530
01 June 2010
The problems of the new information systems
The appearance of the new technologies of the information spreading
makes the possibility of the filtration more complicated not only for
the common reader but also for the editor of the periodical who uses
the alternative sources. And today the availability of the alternative
information sources - blogs, social networks, microblogs - is the
factor that the traditional mass media must take into consideration
in their everyday work. Alternative media becomes the most actual
information source both in the periods of serious cataclysms and in
case of getting information from the regions where the work of press
is hampered.
Today the traditional mass media more often face the situation when
only the cooperation with the alternative sources allows meeting
competition at the saturated media market. In fact, the modern
technologies demand from the editors the specialized approach to the
aggregation of the news in cases when the representatives of mass
media are obliged to use the information from bloggers and people
informing about the happenings on the Internet and with the help of
mobile technologies.
Superconductovity of the Internet and superfluidity of information It
often happens that the authorities or other groups of people in one
country or another have to reduce maximum the news flow. This often
happens in countries with the dictatorship, or in case of states of
emergency, wars and other such situations.
Several years ago the best way to "shut down" the information
(besides censorship) was to draw special attention to the Internet,
because through the networks information spreads much faster with
the help of letters, forums and etc. The solution of the issue of the
censorship on the Internet was the filtration - blocking of definite
sites through which information may leak or just the opposite -
one can penetrate into the internal information field. The issue of
the content blocking on the net is solved through the control of the
local providers which are assigned to block these or those web-sites,
this or that outgoing or incoming traffic.
Однако, в последнEе несколько лет сEтуацEя с проходEмостью EнформацEE
через барьеры резко возросла. ПрEчEн для UтоCо несколько:
But over the recent several years the passability of traffic has
grown abruptly. There are several reasons for that:
Despite the growing efficiency of the Internet blocking systems,
the ways to avoid filtration also develop rather actively. There are
also many efficient ways to conceal the personality of the Internet
activist. Many organizations carry out global events to avoid Internet
censorship; various projects on providing the anonymity of the Internet
activity are financed. Thus, in 2009 the international organization
"Reporters without Borders" issued the second, renewed edition of
"Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents"1 which is directed to
prevent the blocking of information on the Internet.
Besides, China - the country with the most efficient system of the
Internet filtration - is not able to close all the gaps in its defence,
which is often called "Great Chinese Firewall". In spite of all the
attempts to filtrate the, necessary information, with the due skill
of the user, leaks in two directions from the virtual Chinese border.
The number of the virtual social connections has grown abruptly. Today
the sphere of a separate average Internet user is so broad, diversified
and global that it allows disseminating information in very short time
on the broadest possible radius through the receive/transmit links.
ВозмоOностE распространенEя EнформацEE в сетE становятся все
более дEнамEчнымE E кросс-платформеннымE. Так, на сеCодняшнEй
день пользователь Eмеет возмоOность через определенные сервEсы
мультEплEцEровать свое сообщенEе - публEкацEя в одной соцEальной сетE
EлE блоCе прEводEт к автоматEческому вознEкновенEю той Oе запEсE на
друCEх аккаунтах тоCо Oе пользователя, тем самым расшEряя пронEкновенEе
первEчной EнформацEE. The capabilities to disseminate information on
the net become even mote dynamic and cross-platform.
Thus today a user can multiply his message with the help of definite
services - the publication in one social network or blog bring to the
automatic appearance of the same blog entry in other accounts of the
same user thus broadening the penetration of the initial information.
The other factor is the spreading of mobile technologies. Now anyone
who has an average mobile phone is a potential social reporter who
can shoot and put on the Web photos or video about some event which
the traditional media can not cover or that information was under
the censorship. Thus, Facebook social network has about 100 million
users who use the mobile version of the site.
The contemporary ways of the publication on the Web not only have a
cross-platform structure and a possibility to multiply but they also
make the automatic transformation of information types from one into
another possible. Thus, today many platforms allow clients to publish
news by sending SMS or letter of a definite content from their mobile
phones. So even the simplest mobile phone which does not have optional
features allows spreading important information through the global
network within several seconds without Internet technologies.
Thus, contemporary Internet technologies, social networks permit the
average user who has either a computer with the Internet access or
a mobile phone even only with the possibility to send SMS to become
the source of information at places which are difficult of access
for traditional mass media.
At the same time the peculiarities of the modern Internet, which
passes through the stage of hyper-socialization, bring to the
snowballing dissemination of information of social significance
filling in information flows fast. The information became superfluid
and the Internet is close to the situation when it can be called
superconducting - the speed of the dissemination of the information
of critical significance through the informal social networks is
close to the instantaneous one.
Supersaturation of the social networks Traditional mass media have
to react somehow to the appearance of such alternative information
sources. Most frequently the competition brings to the merging of two
types of media - press more often uses the messages of the bloggers
who are involved in different networks.
Thus during the encounters between the authorities and opposition
in Iran after the presidential elections many Western mass media
used the messages of the Iranian users at Twitter where messages
from the streets came as a source of information. The immediacy of
such information cannot be compared with anything because it comes
directly from the witness of what is happening who covers the events
with the help of his mobile phone (especially under the restrictions
of the activity of foreign correspondents which were imposed by the
Iranian authorities at that moment).
On the other hand, the online active flows of information about the
events bring to the exaggerated interest of the users from all over the
world. The insistent interest to the events, i.e. the drawing in of the
huge audience to the definite flows, makes those flows vulnerable on
behalf of the groups pursuing their goals. Thus, in case of activation
of the events where the bloggers or social networks users who cover
the happenings online are present, the situation causes the abrupt
growth of the information flow in one direction (e.g. encounters in
Iran, revolution in Kirgizstan and etc.).
Correspondingly, a huge number of people appear who are interested
in obtaining information in a frantic rush. Besides, often the second
party to the conflict who aspires to conceal information also exists.
Taking into consideration all what was said about the difficulties
of blocking information, today new methods of censorship appear.
Today the snowballing increase of information flow causes not only the
simple linear growth of the sources grading works and finding out most
trustworthy once (let us mention that the increase of the flows is
directly connected not only with the rising opportunities of Internet.
The factor of increase in activity also works: e.g. the strengthening
of the censorship causes the increase of the number and the quality
of the social reporters - common people who want to bring the
trustworthy information to the world's notice). Today for editors
of the traditional mass media (as well as for the users who want
to find information through the social networks) the most essential
problem is the huge increase of the quantity of information and the
difficulty in finding the reliable sources.
Besides the common large information flow, the verification is also
hampered by:
The huge number of users copies the news in order to help to spread
them. On the one hand, it is a positive factor. On the other hand,
among those republications the original source is lost. Often the
active "passer" may be considered as a source of origin.
The spammers also show great interest in this; they place on the Web
the information on an important topic while the link takes you to the
site which is not connected with the topic at all and which receives
additional traffic.
Through the active topics the hackers spread a large number of
viruses. Taking into consideration the interest to the topic the users
very often click in a hurry on the links supposedly connected with
the topical issue and go to the malicious sites. This is especially
topical for Twitter where the services which generate the short links
are used and because of this the user does not see where exactly he
goes when he clicks on the link.
The huge number of republications of the unverified information
appears. People often confuse the events; the shots appear on the
Web which are not connected with that particular event and etc.
The other essential peculiarity is the appearance of the new censorship
method (which, however, is based on the old elaborations put on a
new platform). Even during the events in Iran it became clear that
the information flows are essentially deformed. On the one hand,
several dozens of people with mobile phones worked at the streets.
Then their messages were republished in huge numbers. But it was
noticed that besides spam, viruses and just republications at some
moment the huge amount of disinformation was put into circulation on
the Internet. There were many suppositions that the disinformation
was spread on the Web by the special services of Iran.
It is possible neither to confirm nor to disclaim that information.
But the fact is that on the first days of encounters the special
services of Iran did not manage to block all the ways of information
leakage - the activists managed to send the information which was
later republished by the tens of thousands activists all over the
world. That is why the most efficient way to block information was
not the direct blocking of the sources but their discrediting by the
quantity and quality of the disinformation spread.
Thus, today several factors which are still difficult to control and
demand special preparation (for the editors of mass media who use
those sources or for experts and etc.) are considered to be the main
problem of spreading information through the alternative mass media:
The quantity of information in a time unit during the serious events
which cause global interest becomes critical, which, in its turn,
makes complicates the analysis and even makes it impossible.
The amount of spam, malicious programmes, information "noise" becomes
critically large.
The controlled spreading of disinformation by one of the parties to
the conflict covered makes the issue of the information verification
extremely difficult. Especially, taking into consideration the
anonymity of the Internet (which in such cases is often compelled
- e.g. the dissident cannot openly cover the events because he
jeopardizes his security).
1http://en.rsf.org/spip.php?page=article&id_article=33844
Other issues of author INCREASING OF THE ROLE OF THE SOCIAL NETWORKS
ON THE MEDIA FIELD [19.04.2010] PROPAGANDA MACHINERY OF AZERBAIJAN:
NEW TENDENCIES [08.02.2010] INFORMATIONAL CONTEXT OF THE POSSIBLE
OPENING OF THE TURKSIH BORDER [21.12.2009] CONTEMPORARY INFOGENIOUS
CHALLENGES [18.05.2009] INFORMATION SUPPORT TO THE SOUTH OSSETIAN
WAR [13.09.2008] ISSUES OF ARMENIA'S CYBER SECURITY [10.07.2008] THE
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ISSUE AS ISRAEL INSTRUMENT OF PRESSURE [15.05.2008]
From: A. Papazian
Samvel Martirosyan
http://www.noravank.am/en/?page=analitics&nid=2530
01 June 2010
The problems of the new information systems
The appearance of the new technologies of the information spreading
makes the possibility of the filtration more complicated not only for
the common reader but also for the editor of the periodical who uses
the alternative sources. And today the availability of the alternative
information sources - blogs, social networks, microblogs - is the
factor that the traditional mass media must take into consideration
in their everyday work. Alternative media becomes the most actual
information source both in the periods of serious cataclysms and in
case of getting information from the regions where the work of press
is hampered.
Today the traditional mass media more often face the situation when
only the cooperation with the alternative sources allows meeting
competition at the saturated media market. In fact, the modern
technologies demand from the editors the specialized approach to the
aggregation of the news in cases when the representatives of mass
media are obliged to use the information from bloggers and people
informing about the happenings on the Internet and with the help of
mobile technologies.
Superconductovity of the Internet and superfluidity of information It
often happens that the authorities or other groups of people in one
country or another have to reduce maximum the news flow. This often
happens in countries with the dictatorship, or in case of states of
emergency, wars and other such situations.
Several years ago the best way to "shut down" the information
(besides censorship) was to draw special attention to the Internet,
because through the networks information spreads much faster with
the help of letters, forums and etc. The solution of the issue of the
censorship on the Internet was the filtration - blocking of definite
sites through which information may leak or just the opposite -
one can penetrate into the internal information field. The issue of
the content blocking on the net is solved through the control of the
local providers which are assigned to block these or those web-sites,
this or that outgoing or incoming traffic.
Однако, в последнEе несколько лет сEтуацEя с проходEмостью EнформацEE
через барьеры резко возросла. ПрEчEн для UтоCо несколько:
But over the recent several years the passability of traffic has
grown abruptly. There are several reasons for that:
Despite the growing efficiency of the Internet blocking systems,
the ways to avoid filtration also develop rather actively. There are
also many efficient ways to conceal the personality of the Internet
activist. Many organizations carry out global events to avoid Internet
censorship; various projects on providing the anonymity of the Internet
activity are financed. Thus, in 2009 the international organization
"Reporters without Borders" issued the second, renewed edition of
"Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents"1 which is directed to
prevent the blocking of information on the Internet.
Besides, China - the country with the most efficient system of the
Internet filtration - is not able to close all the gaps in its defence,
which is often called "Great Chinese Firewall". In spite of all the
attempts to filtrate the, necessary information, with the due skill
of the user, leaks in two directions from the virtual Chinese border.
The number of the virtual social connections has grown abruptly. Today
the sphere of a separate average Internet user is so broad, diversified
and global that it allows disseminating information in very short time
on the broadest possible radius through the receive/transmit links.
ВозмоOностE распространенEя EнформацEE в сетE становятся все
более дEнамEчнымE E кросс-платформеннымE. Так, на сеCодняшнEй
день пользователь Eмеет возмоOность через определенные сервEсы
мультEплEцEровать свое сообщенEе - публEкацEя в одной соцEальной сетE
EлE блоCе прEводEт к автоматEческому вознEкновенEю той Oе запEсE на
друCEх аккаунтах тоCо Oе пользователя, тем самым расшEряя пронEкновенEе
первEчной EнформацEE. The capabilities to disseminate information on
the net become even mote dynamic and cross-platform.
Thus today a user can multiply his message with the help of definite
services - the publication in one social network or blog bring to the
automatic appearance of the same blog entry in other accounts of the
same user thus broadening the penetration of the initial information.
The other factor is the spreading of mobile technologies. Now anyone
who has an average mobile phone is a potential social reporter who
can shoot and put on the Web photos or video about some event which
the traditional media can not cover or that information was under
the censorship. Thus, Facebook social network has about 100 million
users who use the mobile version of the site.
The contemporary ways of the publication on the Web not only have a
cross-platform structure and a possibility to multiply but they also
make the automatic transformation of information types from one into
another possible. Thus, today many platforms allow clients to publish
news by sending SMS or letter of a definite content from their mobile
phones. So even the simplest mobile phone which does not have optional
features allows spreading important information through the global
network within several seconds without Internet technologies.
Thus, contemporary Internet technologies, social networks permit the
average user who has either a computer with the Internet access or
a mobile phone even only with the possibility to send SMS to become
the source of information at places which are difficult of access
for traditional mass media.
At the same time the peculiarities of the modern Internet, which
passes through the stage of hyper-socialization, bring to the
snowballing dissemination of information of social significance
filling in information flows fast. The information became superfluid
and the Internet is close to the situation when it can be called
superconducting - the speed of the dissemination of the information
of critical significance through the informal social networks is
close to the instantaneous one.
Supersaturation of the social networks Traditional mass media have
to react somehow to the appearance of such alternative information
sources. Most frequently the competition brings to the merging of two
types of media - press more often uses the messages of the bloggers
who are involved in different networks.
Thus during the encounters between the authorities and opposition
in Iran after the presidential elections many Western mass media
used the messages of the Iranian users at Twitter where messages
from the streets came as a source of information. The immediacy of
such information cannot be compared with anything because it comes
directly from the witness of what is happening who covers the events
with the help of his mobile phone (especially under the restrictions
of the activity of foreign correspondents which were imposed by the
Iranian authorities at that moment).
On the other hand, the online active flows of information about the
events bring to the exaggerated interest of the users from all over the
world. The insistent interest to the events, i.e. the drawing in of the
huge audience to the definite flows, makes those flows vulnerable on
behalf of the groups pursuing their goals. Thus, in case of activation
of the events where the bloggers or social networks users who cover
the happenings online are present, the situation causes the abrupt
growth of the information flow in one direction (e.g. encounters in
Iran, revolution in Kirgizstan and etc.).
Correspondingly, a huge number of people appear who are interested
in obtaining information in a frantic rush. Besides, often the second
party to the conflict who aspires to conceal information also exists.
Taking into consideration all what was said about the difficulties
of blocking information, today new methods of censorship appear.
Today the snowballing increase of information flow causes not only the
simple linear growth of the sources grading works and finding out most
trustworthy once (let us mention that the increase of the flows is
directly connected not only with the rising opportunities of Internet.
The factor of increase in activity also works: e.g. the strengthening
of the censorship causes the increase of the number and the quality
of the social reporters - common people who want to bring the
trustworthy information to the world's notice). Today for editors
of the traditional mass media (as well as for the users who want
to find information through the social networks) the most essential
problem is the huge increase of the quantity of information and the
difficulty in finding the reliable sources.
Besides the common large information flow, the verification is also
hampered by:
The huge number of users copies the news in order to help to spread
them. On the one hand, it is a positive factor. On the other hand,
among those republications the original source is lost. Often the
active "passer" may be considered as a source of origin.
The spammers also show great interest in this; they place on the Web
the information on an important topic while the link takes you to the
site which is not connected with the topic at all and which receives
additional traffic.
Through the active topics the hackers spread a large number of
viruses. Taking into consideration the interest to the topic the users
very often click in a hurry on the links supposedly connected with
the topical issue and go to the malicious sites. This is especially
topical for Twitter where the services which generate the short links
are used and because of this the user does not see where exactly he
goes when he clicks on the link.
The huge number of republications of the unverified information
appears. People often confuse the events; the shots appear on the
Web which are not connected with that particular event and etc.
The other essential peculiarity is the appearance of the new censorship
method (which, however, is based on the old elaborations put on a
new platform). Even during the events in Iran it became clear that
the information flows are essentially deformed. On the one hand,
several dozens of people with mobile phones worked at the streets.
Then their messages were republished in huge numbers. But it was
noticed that besides spam, viruses and just republications at some
moment the huge amount of disinformation was put into circulation on
the Internet. There were many suppositions that the disinformation
was spread on the Web by the special services of Iran.
It is possible neither to confirm nor to disclaim that information.
But the fact is that on the first days of encounters the special
services of Iran did not manage to block all the ways of information
leakage - the activists managed to send the information which was
later republished by the tens of thousands activists all over the
world. That is why the most efficient way to block information was
not the direct blocking of the sources but their discrediting by the
quantity and quality of the disinformation spread.
Thus, today several factors which are still difficult to control and
demand special preparation (for the editors of mass media who use
those sources or for experts and etc.) are considered to be the main
problem of spreading information through the alternative mass media:
The quantity of information in a time unit during the serious events
which cause global interest becomes critical, which, in its turn,
makes complicates the analysis and even makes it impossible.
The amount of spam, malicious programmes, information "noise" becomes
critically large.
The controlled spreading of disinformation by one of the parties to
the conflict covered makes the issue of the information verification
extremely difficult. Especially, taking into consideration the
anonymity of the Internet (which in such cases is often compelled
- e.g. the dissident cannot openly cover the events because he
jeopardizes his security).
1http://en.rsf.org/spip.php?page=article&id_article=33844
Other issues of author INCREASING OF THE ROLE OF THE SOCIAL NETWORKS
ON THE MEDIA FIELD [19.04.2010] PROPAGANDA MACHINERY OF AZERBAIJAN:
NEW TENDENCIES [08.02.2010] INFORMATIONAL CONTEXT OF THE POSSIBLE
OPENING OF THE TURKSIH BORDER [21.12.2009] CONTEMPORARY INFOGENIOUS
CHALLENGES [18.05.2009] INFORMATION SUPPORT TO THE SOUTH OSSETIAN
WAR [13.09.2008] ISSUES OF ARMENIA'S CYBER SECURITY [10.07.2008] THE
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ISSUE AS ISRAEL INSTRUMENT OF PRESSURE [15.05.2008]
From: A. Papazian