Growing up among worlds – globally enabled childhood
Abstract of the presentation I am submitting for SIETAR Congress 2011 . Let me know what you think!
Title: Growing up among worlds – globally enabled childhood.
Originally a third culture kid (TCK) is someone who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside their parents’ culture. Normally the TCK builds relationships to all the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture are assimilated into their life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of the same background, other third culture kids. This term and definition coined by Dr. Useem seemed exclusive to the children of expatriates and military personnel at the brink of the 21st century. 10 years later it applies to most children who have grew up using and exploring the Internet.
Through the widespread access to the Internet, generation-Y globally can be described as TCK 2.0 – an interconnected social network without cultural barriers and deep roots extending into each continent; an operational, developmental and strategic network of mutually related individuals working within the comforts of their bedrooms. The Internet has shifted the cultural paradigms amongst the millennials and changed each and every relationship from ‘6 degrees of separation’ to ‘Add as Friend’.
However, is the Internet a substitute for building relationships to all the societies, while not having full ownership in any, or is it merely an exploratory escape for established millennials with a sense of belonging? Has the Internet enabled the connected youth to create a single multidimensional e-culture or is there still a disparity between what is being built and a true global culture embraced by the indigenous TCKs?
The Cyber World War I is slowly starting. Every media outlet is buzzing about wikileaks and the whole world apart from few brave anonymous people have turned against Julian Assange. A man who is simply following what has been written in the Declaration of Independence of Cyberspace.
We are creating a world that all may enter without privilege or prejudice accorded by race, economic power, military force, or station of birth.
We are creating a world where anyone, anywhere may express his or her beliefs, no matter how singular, without fear of being coerced into silence or conformity.
Your legal concepts of property, expression, identity, movement, and context do not apply to us. They are based on matter, There is no matter here.
Now, when you think about it, it actually works. Every agency, every company, every single person which is trying to disrupt the natural flow of the information is taken down by the Internet itself. Let it be Visa, http://www.aklagare.se or PayPal, they have all turned against the free flow of information and they are paying for it, the Low Orbit Ion Cannon is shooting at them from every place on the Internet, and with an army of millions, Operation: Payback is in full combat mode.
Jeff Jarvis has summed this whole situation up and I couldn’t agree more:
I can use Visa and Mastercard to pay for porn and support anti-abortion fanatics, Prop 8 homophobic bigots, and the Ku Klux Klan. But I can’t use them or PayPal to support Wikileaks, transparency, the First Amendment, and true government reform.
Live long and prosper Internet.
