For this short assignment:

Please provide your comments on and discuss ONE of the following

views.

Please write your answers in English

Please note the word-limit: your submission must be within 500 words.
Finally, please also clearly state upfront which option you will be
attempting.

Option 2:
Social media has given rise to the age of extremes. More becomes much, much
more and less much, much less. There is no middle ground. But this seems to
go against the entire digital era and the founding principles of the Internet which
were all about equality, equal access, and "bridging the divide". Sure, the digital
divide might be less today but the social, economic and intellectual divide is on
the rise. Instead of becoming more balanced, people are becoming more
polarized; instead of reading more, we all read the same things; instead of
enjoying a diversity of music, music production and consumption are all
becoming homogenized. And this trend is on the rise with the rise of analytics
and big data which give us more of what we consume. Social influence, in
summary, is on the rise at the expense of individuality. This should all make us
worry, a lot!
My comments on Option 2 (Social media has given rise to the age of extremes.)
In my country, Brazil, since July 2013, we have been experiencing a state of
social tension that has been spreading through the internet against common
sense and respect. Astonished, we have been seeing people at Facebook
claiming for the return of the military. Such irresponsibility is not compatible with
a nation that emerged from a bloody military dictatorship just about 30 years
ago. The recipe for this behavior, at least in Brazil, which situation I follow very
closely is wild consumerism encouraged for the last three presidents and the
appalling state of education. These factors turned Brazil into a mass of
alienated people that grows individualistic without developing as individuals.
Last year, these very people have been through two major events: the World
Cup supported by half the country, repudiated by the other half and
presidential elections. This scenario created the conditions for a violent
polarization at social networks. Abusive arguments took place at Facebook,
between the supporters of both major political parties that were running for
presidency. In times where we see more and more people having access to the
Internet, social networks and all kinds of devices, instead of the healthy debate,
instead of gathering together to reach a common goal, what we see is people
fighting each other and polarizing discussions as if it were just a soccer match.
If you do not share someones opinion, you automatically become an enemy.

This is only one facet of ignorance, we are also losing the reading habit, and our
reading is fragmented. Many countries, including mine, are facing a Human
Capital crisis. Once most of productive knowledge and skills are conveyed in
formal education, economy must face a dead end in a consumption-driven
society that thrashes education.
But despite all this, the world is going fast towards a collaborative or sharing
economy; societies then, will have adapt to co-creating, co-working,
collaborating. A production system where human capital and information will
work together for the sake of sustainability. In this next step, society's value will
rely much more on the ability to generate collaborative businesses. We see
drought and recession getting close in many countries, and business nowadays
is driven by disruption; companies open and close in the blink of an eye and the
only way to keep going in a sustainable way will be collaboration.
This is exactly the paradoxical challenge for human societies in coming times:
how to prepare the next generations in terms of education, civility and
professional skills in a world that offers so many possibilities of growth and
development but also inexhaustible sources of distractions.

VERSO FINAL

In my country, Brazil, since July 2013, we have been experiencing a state of social tension
that has been spreading through the internet against common sense and respect.
Astonished, we have been seeing people at Facebook claiming for the return of the military.
Such irresponsibility is not compatible with a nation that emerged from a bloody military
dictatorship just about 30 years ago. The recipe for this behavior, at least in Brazil, which
situation I follow very closely is wild consumerism encouraged for the last three presidents
and the appalling state of education. These factors turned Brazil into a mass of alienated
people that grows individualistic without developing as individuals.
Last year, these very people have been through two major events: the World Cup
supported by half the country, repudiated by the other half and presidential elections. This
scenario created the conditions for a violent polarization at social networks. Abusive
arguments took place at Facebook, between the supporters of both major political parties
that were running for presidency. In times where we see more and more people having
access to the Internet, social networks and all kinds of devices, instead of the healthy
debate, instead of gathering together to reach a common goal, what we see is people
fighting each other and polarizing discussions as if it were just a soccer match. If you do not
share someones opinion, you automatically become an enemy.

This is only one facet of ignorance, we are also losing the reading habit, and our reading is
fragmented. Many countries, including mine, are facing a Human Capital crisis. Once most
of productive knowledge and skills are conveyed in formal education, economy must face a
dead end in a consumption-driven society that thrashes education.
However, the world is going fast towards a collaborative or sharing economy; societies then,
will have adapt to co-creating, co-working, collaborating. A production system where human
capital and information will work together for the sake of sustainability. In this next step,
society's value will rely much more on the ability to generate collaborative businesses. We
see drought and recession getting close in many countries, and business nowadays is
driven by disruption; companies open and close in the blink of an eye and the only way to
keep going in a sustainable way will be collaboration.
This is exactly the paradoxical challenge for human societies in coming times: how to use
effectively all the resources the internet offers to help prepare the next generations in terms
of education, civility and professional skills instead of using the same resources as means
of distractions, clashes and decay.