Why We Should All Respect The Internet (Just A Little Bit More)

The debate about the value of the Internet swells up every now and again.

People like Nicholas Carr argues that the Internet is making us stupid (see: The Atlantic - Is Google Making Us Stupid?). Malcolm Gladwell does not believe that online social networks are changing our world (see: The New Yorker - Small Change). The argument seems to delve too deep into the minutia of networked markets instead of looking at it from a more holistic perspective: when anybody can publish anything in text, images, audio and video for free to everyone else in the world (and in a place where people can share, collaborate or mash-up that content), the ability and opportunity to change the world is (very much) present.

Watch this...

I've been following Salman Khan and the remarkable journey of his Khan Academy since 2009. If you're looking for a quick shot inspiration, creativity, innovation and hope, look no further:

Tags:

collaboration

content

education

google

internet

khan academy

malcolm gladwell

mash-up

nicholas carr

online social networks

online video

publishing

salman khan

ted

ted talks

the atlantic

the new yorker