Free Essay About The Flow Of Info

Technological progress and the development of information technologies have completely changed the environment in which the governments should operate. Nowadays, both individuals and groups of citizens have an opportunity to quickly manage and challenge or affect the course and mode of governance. Twenty-four-hour access to news, flash mobs, blogs, tell-alls, etc. guarantee the rapid stream of information demanding rapid operations from the systems of government. How have information technologies reduced the ability of governments and omnidirectional organizations to maintain long-term strategic planning? How have they redefined cultural and sovereign borders? How can the government force information technologies to “fight back”? What skills and assets are necessary both for the people who send the message and for those who receive the information? The aim of this paper is to discuss the mentioned questions and to try to respond to them.
The twenty-first century marks the flourish of information. The age of democracy, the development of the Internet technologies and their generalized accessibility has resulted in a situation where everybody can easily obtain information at all times. In such setting, every governmental decision and response to unexpected circumstances immediately resonates with the population of the country. Opinions differ, and rather often the looks of the government and people at one or another issue dissent from each other. However, the democracy means that citizens participate in making decisions about the country’s affairs, and the government should regard their opinions. When real or predictable outcomes of the governmental decisions do not answer their expectations, the government faces the public response. The Internet and democratic freedom of information give people the access not only to the public acts but also to their analysis provided by different scholars, experts, journalists, etc. Public uproar that appears due to freedom of speech and excessive amount of information forces the government to make amendments and, hence, retards the implement of its long-term strategic plans. The same works for the organizations; for instance, publicly available financial reports of the companies substantially define their future allowing investors to judge their efficiency and assess possible investment risks.
At the same time, information technologies completely redefined the definitions of sovereign and cultural borders. The Internet and television united people all over the world and gave them access to traditions and customs of different cultures. Nowadays, it is common for people to be interested in the life of foreigners, different ethnic and religious groups, and the Internet and television can easily provide them with the required information. The new knowledge broadens people’s horizons. Together with human curiosity, the international idea of equality, and widespread migrations, information technologies erased cultural borders within the country and extended them to the whole world.
In order to use information technologies to “fight back,” the government can highlight its successful achievements in one or another sphere. For example, in the news, people often can watch or read not only the information about military conflicts, accidents, or different troubles but also the information about held by the government holidays or its advancements in the international politics. Positive news about the government achievements let the government gain a positive perception in the public eye and wake national pride.
Both people who send the message and the ones who receive it should have enough skills to understand information, analyze it, and to emphasize or find its central ideas. In other words, the modern people should be educated and broad-minded. Unfortunately, information can often be unreliable, incomplete, or inaccurate, and it can negatively affect people without sufficient level of knowledge. Furthermore, people need public awareness that is the way to solve most international problems and to achieve global purposes of humankind.
The modern world is the world of information. Nowadays, the access to the data has become the most powerful weapon in the world. Information gives people a lot of knowledge and makes them broad-minded, but at the same time, it can become a tool of manipulation. It is important to understand how significant the role of information is, what consequences it can bring, and how to analyze it properly to avoid becoming the victim of these manipulations.