http://www.thinkmacro.org/2008/11/obama-was-not-the-first/ media | technology | society Fri, 22 Apr 2011 21:02:10 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 hourly 1 http://www.thinkmacro.org/2008/11/obama-was-not-the-first/comment-page-1/#comment-2811 Dima Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:21:18 +0000 http://www.thinkmacro.org/?p=322#comment-2811 I think there are some important differences between terrorists and government officials when it comes to the use of media. I am not surprised to see that the terrorist organizations are pretty innovative with their media use. They have very little strings attached as to what they can release into the "air" and how. At the same time, government officials are bound to so many regulations and accountability rules, that it is much harder for them to be innovative. For example, I've been reading recently that Obama is going to be forced now to give up using his Blackberry and personal email. The first is because it is not secure, the second is because all his communication as a president has to be documented. The terrorists may have to care about the security issues, but not about the public scrutiny. So, I think in this sense, comparing the way governments use technology and the way terrorists do that is comparing apples to oranges. Would you disagree? I think there are some important differences between terrorists and government officials when it comes to the use of media. I am not surprised to see that the terrorist organizations are pretty innovative with their media use. They have very little strings attached as to what they can release into the “air” and how. At the same time, government officials are bound to so many regulations and accountability rules, that it is much harder for them to be innovative. For example, I’ve been reading recently that Obama is going to be forced now to give up using his Blackberry and personal email. The first is because it is not secure, the second is because all his communication as a president has to be documented. The terrorists may have to care about the security issues, but not about the public scrutiny. So, I think in this sense, comparing the way governments use technology and the way terrorists do that is comparing apples to oranges. Would you disagree?

]]> http://www.thinkmacro.org/2008/11/obama-was-not-the-first/comment-page-1/#comment-2769 Amna Mon, 17 Nov 2008 05:53:51 +0000 http://www.thinkmacro.org/?p=322#comment-2769 Amazingly, this is not limited to politicians and presidents(so called "sophisticated people"). Even the terrorists use internet to publicize themselves or you can call that a campaign too although it is of a different sort. Like you often hear comments on television that someone has uploaded kidnapping, murder and grotesque pictures of someone and even has a video uploaded on Youtube. And you also hear some terrorist trying to convey the message through Internet. I've never explored this area much but I've heard that they have proper website that are not only updated with their latest activities but also people can actually contact them. So I guess Obama is actually not the first and nor is Medvedev... What do you think? Amazingly, this is not limited to politicians and presidents(so called “sophisticated people”). Even the terrorists use internet to publicize themselves or you can call that a campaign too although it is of a different sort. Like you often hear comments on television that someone has uploaded kidnapping, murder and grotesque pictures of someone and even has a video uploaded on Youtube. And you also hear some terrorist trying to convey the message through Internet. I’ve never explored this area much but I’ve heard that they have proper website that are not only updated with their latest activities but also people can actually contact them. So I guess Obama is actually not the first and nor is Medvedev… What do you think?

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