Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Twitter and the World Cup show that the world changed. Most people, didn’t even notice.

The world changed. When I show people, they shrug. “Of course. What’s the big deal?” is the usual response.

This web page has a story about how 300 million people tweeted about the FIFA World Cup. So what? Note:

• Most of the world is watching the same event at the same time
• Most of the world is corresponding to each other in real-time
• These two activities occur via a handheld, battery-powered device

The first item has been available for a couple of decades. The second item has been available for maybe a couple of years. The third item is what I consider the magic. I walk about in the woods and follow the world each second. I hear the “official” version of history. I also hear the version from the guy standing on a street corner in Cairo or in the woods of Washington. And I tell these two guys what I think.

The world has changed. Did you notice it changing?