On his search for media truths, Dave stumbles upon ubiquitous connectivity, pervasive proximity and a dozen other things that a media studies prof will throw at you as you're scribbling away
In writing a story about online communities, I sought out the help of a media studies expert. I phoned up Mark Federman, former chief strategist of the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology, armed with two or three questions with somewhat academic angles to show that I have a grounding in McLuhan and Innis. What resulted was a half-hour lecture including words that I had never heard before and words that he made up - it was both incredible and daunting.
This theory of the internet as a medium made sense to me.
There are two major effects: ubiquitous connectivity and pervasive proximity.
Ubiquitous connectivity means that no matter where you are physically located, you are always connected. Despite even most social and economic
divides, one is in a telecommunications network.
An example of this is that when something happens on Bloor St., someone immediately uploads the picture, connecting those who are not there to those who are there, thus making the event simultaneously here and there.
Pervasive proximity means that we are always next to one another. It's what McLuhan called the Global Village. When politicians like Hilary Clinton talk about the Global Village, they paint a happy picture - as though we're all holding hands across nations. McLuhan didn't mean this at all. He envisioned a Global Village that had that potential, but he also theorized that it would create dissent, controversy, and just about everything else that is caused when different people are put next to one another.
McLuhan saw that when you put people in pervasive proximity, there is the greatest potential for human conflict.
So why do we choose to participate in this global network?
Federman theorizes that we all have a natural inclination to share our human experiences.
We feel compelled to tell others about our experiences, how we reacted to movies or books, share our lives. We collectively believe that we will benefit ourselves and others by sharing knowledge.
Specifically for books, another reason for our sharing is our preoccupation with status and celebrity. Some people read the internet just like other mediums like TV and radio, where the actual correspondents like Anderson Cooper or Howard Stern who become pop culture icons. They believe that they too can obtain that status with a clever turn of phrase or insightful point of view...or lacking that, sheer number of reviews so that people on Amazon.com cannot help but read your opinion.
Although Federman's point of view makes sense, I am still left wondering why I am writing and what my place is within the Global Village.

Reporters Without Borders issued this statement about journalist Abdulkarim Al-Khaiwani, who is on trial for documenting human rights abuses executed by Yemen's armed forces. Now his own life is on the line:

Reporters Without Borders today urged the authorities to stop the prosecution of Abdulkarim Al-Khaiwani, a freelance journalist and former editor of the now closed weekly Al-Shoura, on a charge of "publishing information liable to undermine army morale" under article 126 of the criminal code, for which the maximum penalty is death.
"Khaiwani is critical of the government headed by President Ali Abdallah Saleh but that does not make him a rebel," the press freedom organisation said. "We remind the authorities that journalists are, by definition, neutral observers and as such they should not be prosecuted for what they report."
Khaiwani has worked for several publications since his weekly was closed in 2005. He was arrested in June after the publication of photos he had taken showing abuses committed by the army in its attempts to combat a Shiite rebellion in the north. During initial interrogation, he was accused of "terrorist activity" because of his alleged links with the rebels. He was released provisionally after a month on health grounds.
The charges against him were examined by a state security court on 21 October and again on 31 October, when his lawyers challenged the legality of the prosecution and the competence of the state security court to hear the case. The presiding judge ordered an adjournment to allow the court to consider the defence's request. The next hearing is set for 11 November.
Khaiwani told Reporters Without Borders he was the victim of a "political machination" and said the judge who had been in charge of his case had been replaced by judge Mohsen Alwan, who was "known for his hostility towards journalists and for his links to the political and military authorities."
Yemen was ranked 143rd out of 169 countries in the world press freedom index issued last month by Reporters Without Borders.