While the headline is about the growth of the mobile internet, Castells also comments about social networks and the impact they have had:
"Speaking about the 'phenomenal' societal impact of the emergence of social networks, Castells said the number of users – 500m on Facebook alone – is only at 'the tip of the iceberg'. 'The deepest social transformation of the internet came in the last decade with social networks,' he said, adding:'Increasing sociability, increasing happiness, an increasing feeling of being autonomous – all this relates to use of internet. The most important thing in this is that it's not anonymous – this is real people doing real things, sharing things. They're not just friends, they're contacts also. They're doing things together, they're not just chatting.
'Social networks are living spaces. People share with limited emotional effort. This is a constantly networked world that evolves with human experience, and individuals choose the terms of their co-evolution. Entrepreneurs build these sites, not corporations. The important thing is that even if people go into these sites, they can't do whatever they want. People will create another and take all their friends with them. The entry barriers are so low, the capital [outlay is] almost nothing, and [the barriers to entry are] so diffused.
'If Facebook becomes nasty people disappear. This is constructed by individuals who organise, and their companies are in the business of selling freedom – if they don't give it people go away. This is transforming social movements and politics,' Castells said.
- Sent using Google Toolbar"
