Ng: Internet limitations

WE have really grown our use of technology as well as its adoption, and for people who advocate protection or closed markets, here is proof that consumers will benefit much less when you restrict options and access.

One of the closest markets that you probably know of is North Korea. Their people mostly cannot interface with people outside, can’t read news from overseas, can’t travel freely, and can’t buy imported goods.

They do have Internet, but its also controlled by a great wall. The outside world cannot see their websites, while people inside also cannot see web activity outside.

In a recent post, CNET enumerated that there was a security lapse on their part, and they were able to get a peak at the Internet world in North Korea. As they reported, North Koreans had no Facebook, YouTube, free email, Twitter, Google, and many of the things we have learned to love about the web. I don’t know how true this is, but North Koreans are said to have access to only 28 websites, mostly produced inside, and mostly containing information like food recipes, a limited number of games, and local news.

Speaking of social media, one of the most popular but is underutilized is Twitter. It is always touted as the source of ideas and expressions, especially among celebrities. Unfortunately, if you are not a celebrity, not many respond to or read your tweets.

So Twitter, which grew rapidly in the first few years, has mostly flatlined its growth after it reached some 400 million. There are rumors that Disney is planning to buy it, and there is always debate on what it will have to do to get more people to sign up or use the platform. Its 155-character limit, while in many ways a strength, is also its greatest weakness.

They advertised a new feature, and while they said it has only recently been released, I still could not use it. It could be available in a few days or weeks.

It’s called Moments and it might be an exciting new feature. One thing I am sure of is if it catches on, Facebook may follow suit because it does seem to be catching on.

Moments is very simple. We usually post pictures, videos, thoughts, ideas, happenings and the like, and it’s a stand alone message. What if you could go over your different posts, and make it into a collection of thoughts to tell a story? Just like creating a PowerPoint of sorts, by just clicking and checking on the various posts or tweets.

This is nice, because when you look at most of our own posts, it follows a train of thought, and putting it together does seem to provide many possibilities of making it more exciting – much like now in Facebook when you can collate several pictures together to create a collage or story.

For instance, as I am writing this, it was just announced that former senator Miriam Santiago has passed away. If you want to create a slideshow of what various people think of her, it would be made easier, and many people might certainly want to do that. What do you think?

(wilson@ngkhai.com)

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