I found a video on Youtube that I thought was really interesting. It's a public lecture from Clay Shirky, who speaks about the new media, which are responsible for the transformation of public participation. You can find the video on this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_iN_QubRs0
Shirky speaks about how the new media, for example Facebook, Twitter and (although a little older) cell phones made a difference in citizen participation. In the past, there was one-to-many communication, where the government and the leading organizations distributed their messages to a disperse group of people, who weren't in contact with each other. Now, we face the many-to-many communication, where people are no longer disconected to each other and can talk back. The messages no longer come from just one source, but from many sources. And because of the high number of incoming messages, the government is no longer able to control and to censor the messages. We now have the power to talk, to change things, to participate. And for once, the governments cannot stop this, so all they can do, is to adapt. The world of public/citizen participation is undoubtedly changing, and it is all because of the help of new technology that we so often take for granted, but can be used more wisely and effectively to change things and make them better.
Although Shirky speaks about things that are already known to people who deal with new media and the internet, it is still a good speech to listen to, because it is interesting, enlightening and it makes people think.
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Ines, a great thought! I would like to add something from my perspective, which is as usual very marketing focused:).
OdgovoriIzbrišiCompanies are using viral marketing as a cheap and efficient way of promotion. But, sometimes viral marketing can go out of control, because of consumer power and organizations might lose their reputation. This is why using this technique is very risky - you don't ever know what kind of comment will people write next to posting your video on Facebook, and assuring positive consistency through your communications is very hard, maybe even impossible task.
Don't get me wrong. I am a huge supporter of the freedom of speech, above is just my perspective on viral marketing from organizational point of view.