Molecular Media in 2005 (Part I)

Blogs, blogs, blogs. I'm reading more about blogs right now than I am reading ON them, so in turn - I am writing this entry.

The Asian Tsunami

As the continued events of 2004 continue - notably the devastation of the Asian tsunami - the main things that the press are reporting on are related to weblogs such as the SEA EAT weblog. 'Mitch Wagner' points to the tip of the iceberg in Blogs, Wikis And Photoblogs Testify To Tsunami Disaster.

The Wikipedia again has proven to be a useful tool - the entry on the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake is still being updated. This, from volunteers - but also, something which is notably lacking in this, is mention of the Wikimedia Foundation. If you're using the Wikipedia, realize that the hardware running the site is made possible through donations.

In the press, though, more abstract things have popped up - talking about how important weblogs are, and what have you. Well, I hate to break this to everyone... but it's nothing to do with 'weblogs' as much as it has to do with people communicating. The technology, for bloggers, Content Management System and Wiki users at least, has become transparent.

Hurricane Ivan

But it's not transparent to the people who are reading the traditional media. Oddly enough, it isn't very transparent to ICT people within the Caribbean and Latin American region (show me a weblog from the region dealing with ICT!). Only after recent events, despite being told of the potential before, are they asking questions.

In the wake of Hurricane Ivan, myself and others mentioned hybrid means of communication, and even wrote ICT Infrastructure Robustness - as well as derivative papers related to Disaster Management. This, I am told, made it as far as a CARICOM summit where it was supposedly received well, albeit informally.

But it's been a few months, and I've seen nothing of consequence. Why? Perhaps because of the molar nature of the institution of CARICOM - and organizations like it.

Consider that the majority of weblogs in Florida related to the hurricane were not run by molar agencies. But what am I talking about, 'molar'?

Molar systems are what are presently dominant - where a large entity, such as a newspaper or recording company is responsible for the distribution of information. The problem with this, of course, is that many voices may be - are - stifled.

Molecular systems are more close to the individual - in fact, they could be considered 'individuals with backing'. Weblogs *could* become a molar technology (I'll cover this in another entry, the ideas are quite dendritic). Artists selling music directly across the internet is molecular.