Whether the digital era improves society is up to its users – that's us

Social media in particular has inexorably changed the world, driving openness and fear – but it is not beyond our control

Danah Boyd

Social media in particular has inexorably changed the world, driving openness and fear – but it is not beyond our control

The Guardian: 21-April-2012

By restructuring the networks, technology can destabilise hierarchical power. Those who can control the flow of information and those who can control people's attention are extraordinarily powerful. The only people more powerful than those who control the networks are those who can make the networks. It's no longer simply about broadcasting a message; it's about setting in motion mechanisms to draw attention to you. If you want power in a networked society, you need to orchestrate control over the information ecosystem.

Boyd tries to make sense of Castells's challenging list of types of power operating in networks

• Networking power is the power that comes from people's inclusion or exclusion from a particular environment.
• Network power is the power that stems from setting up the rules for inclusion or exclusion.
• Networked power is the power that underpins those who can set the rules by imposing their will on others.
• Network-making power is the type of power possessed by those who can connect people and flow information.

See Castells: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skcUYhRaEas