Presenting the fact and fiction of tomorrow since 2001
Does Not Equal is a webcomic by Sarah Ennals – check out the pre-Futurismic archives, and the strips that have been published here previously.
[ Be sure to check out the Does Not Equal Cafepress store for webcomic merchandise featuring Canadians with geometrically-shaped heads! ]
It’s impressive how far new media has come and how important it is becoming in all parts of modern life. In addition to the myriad of blogs, news sites and internet radio stations contributing to the discussion of pretty much anything from politics to skateboarding, we have the emergence of the online video.
Video is beginning to catch politicians out when they ‘misspeak’ on a previous statement or action. Senator George Allen’s defeat in 2006 was widely credited to a young staffer catching him using a racial slur on video. But it’s not just accidental footage that’s making an impact. Barack Obama’s ‘A More Perfect Union’ speech has over 4 Million views in less than a month. Now Youtube can claim another powerful figure, with Jordan’s Queen Rania using the medium to ask people for their stereotypes and questions about the Middle East in an attempt to bridge the gap between Arab States and the West. This kind of meta conversation between those who even ten years ago would just not have happened. Interlinked worlds like those in David Louis Edelman’s ‘Infoquake’ are easier to imagine with online interactions like this one.
