Reading Assignment #4

Chapter 7 in Smart Mobs discusses "Generation Txt." Texting was a way that President Joseph Estrada of the Philippines was impeached. t was a peaceful way to do it and it was very effective. All that people did was take their cell phones out of their pockets and text other people to coordinate a peaceful demonstration. Over a million people showed up over four days and the President was toppled. This is not the only demonstration of smart mobs at work. It states on page 158 four more examples.

Netwars have emerged from this new technology. It has been used by a wide variety of people " "from terrorists and criminal organizations to militant social activists" quoting from page 162. On one side of this it is helpful to our military and would benefit us from many different threats and aid us in wartime, but on the other if terrorists were using new technology against us it could be very harmful tot he country.

Later on in the chapter Rheingold talks about "Lovegety and p2p Journalism"on page 164. On this page and the following page he has different bullet points of the many ways that people can now talk and contact each other using new technology. An example that he shows is the Lovegetty which was put out by the Japanese. It is a keychain device that singnals the wearer when a person, that also has a Lovegetty, of the opposite sex and a compatible profile is within fifteen feet of you. It is a new way to meet people you might have never of gone up to before. They also have a version for people of the same sex "Gaygar" that was introduced in North America. One concern in which all of this technology brings is privacy. There has to be some form of protection that would have to be made so people's profiles and personal information will not be leeked out into the public.