Society, technology and you

A few years ago, I saw ex-NDP Federal Leader Alexa McDonough being interviewed on television on the lack of voter turnout by Canadian youth. When asked about the nascent online political forums being used by young people, she said, “Surfing on the internet is no substitute for voting.” We can see now, with the advent of Twitter , ProjectDemocracy , CitizenTube , OpenGov and many others, how wrong she was.  Our current federal political battles are being fought through social media and young people around the world prefer to bypass the limitations of electoral politics altogether and affect real change through direct action. Witness the complete transformation in the political landscape in the Middle East, largely driven by the ubiquity of cell phones, smart devices a...