The Internet has fostered at least two revolutions in communications. Both revolutions created pathways for conversations that can lead to better understanding among people.
But first, some background. Although the Internet is very wide, it is not very tall (although it may be very deep). By that I mean you don't have to go through layers of stuff to get to the top.
A couple of examples: If I link to something interesting from Doc Searls, he may see the link and maybe link back. If I write something interesting and then link to Microsoft evangelist Robert Scoble, he may see it and maybe leaves a comment. Each, albeit small, conversation probably could never have occurred pre-Internet.
From a business perspective, compare this to many large organizations that have layer upon layer insulating and, perhaps, filtering what is going on outside their respective companies. It is seductively easy to believe only what your employees are telling you. But many times, what they are telling you and what your customers are saying are two very different things. We need to remember that what they are saying is but one lens into seeing the totality of reality.
Now, on to the revolution! The first revolution of the Internet was e-mail. E-mail not only allowed communication in all directions from all directions, it encouraged it. That is, it created a pipeline directly to the person you wanted to reach. For the first time, anyone could start a conversation with anyone else (at least until people started filtering e-mail). These conversations created opportunities for new ways of understanding our world.
The second revolution of the Internet is the web. The web takes conversations a step further in that it can be one-to-one and one-to-many. A different kind of conversation to be sure. But nonetheless a valuable one. For the first time, individuals had forums to reach wide audiences. With this greater reach came the opportunity for even more conversations and therefore more ways of understanding.
I don't know what the next Internet revolution will be, but I hope it will create new ways of starting conversations.
Aloha!
