Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates once said of the potential future role of the Internet as a shared space where people can share ideas: “The Internet is becoming the town square of tomorrow’s global village.” It is being said.
Although it is not clear when Gates said this quote or if the quote was paraphrased from another quote by Gates, the Internet is frequently associated with the concept of a “town square.” I’m here.
When billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk acquired the social media platform Twitter in 2022, he said, “Free speech is the foundation of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the foundation of a functioning democracy.” “This is a digital town square that will be discussed.” What exactly is a town square and why is it worth discussing? What purpose did the concept of a town square serve even before modern technology? Or?
What is a town square?
In its literal sense, the term refers to a common space in a town or village where people gather, music is played, and conversations take place between residents. In the field of philosophy, it refers to the ancient Greek custom of discussing ideas prevalent at the time, holding debates, and discussing matters of common interest.
What is the value of a discussion in the town square?
The term agora referred to such a space where people gathered. At the time, “sophists,” or people who specialized in the art of rhetoric, conducted such conversations in public. However, philosophers Plato and Aristotle have said that their reasoning is flawed and that they intentionally argue in a way that lacks the merit of steering the audience toward a certain point of view.
Article conversation “Aristotle found an antidote by proposing rules of ethical rhetoric by which populist claims could be evaluated. Ethos (credibility), pathos (feelings), logos (logic) It provides the basis for appropriate ethical rhetoric that can be used to evaluate messages.”
This therefore highlights the idea that simply delegating a space as a forum for public discussion is not enough, as there are potential bad actors and audiences who may not understand when manipulative tactics are being used. I am.
This is where the comparison with platforms like Twitter becomes clear in a way. Social media spaces act as places where everyone can talk and debate with each other. In fact, Twitter and Facebook were used at the beginning of the Arab Spring, a series of protests that occurred in various countries in the Middle East and North Africa in the early 2010s. When traditional means of communication were disrupted, these networks helped people come together and raise political issues.
But critics say the way these companies currently operate speaks to the lack of regulations acceptable to users. Policies that punish hate speech are believed to be unfair or biased against certain ideologies. So even if a platform were available, true and honest debate would be difficult due to the lack of common rules of the kind that Greek philosophers hoped to create.
What is the global village?
Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan is believed to have first spoken of the “global village” in his 1962 book. Gutenberg galaxy. This refers to the idea that new electrical interdependence has shrunk the world into one that most of us have easy access to.
Since then, with the rise of the internet and artificial intelligence, his words have become more true than ever. But is it also true that a global village and interconnected world needs free space for discussion?
The value of discussion is inherent. It means that society is open to diverse ideas and people are free to voice them and accept feedback and criticism. However, the quality of these factors determines the quality of the discussion that takes place. As social media platforms drive engagement and draw larger audiences to them, controversial but less substantive posts may become more prominent. Therefore, their claim to be a public square is questionable.
In a post earlier this year, X (formerly Twitter) said it was “creating more original content and bringing more talent along with some of the most interesting and passionate people at X.” The subjectivity of interesting debates means that while we live in a global village-like environment, particular online communities do not always function as the public spaces we need. Masu.
If people believe they can identify someone who is duplicitous or lies to the public, as happened in the case of Greece, intervention may occur. Setting basic standards for what is unacceptable and requires immediate removal may be one way he ensures the sanctity of the public forum for discussion.
Or it could lead to a discussion about what a completely new kind of platform might look like, perhaps one whose sustenance doesn’t depend on user attention.
