"The Tyranny of the Majority" vs. Social Media

         

           ‘Democracy’ has not always been perfect throughout the ages, as Tocqueville points out in his book “Democracy in America” that democracy contains a potential danger which would lead to ‘the tyranny of the majority’. He attributed roots largely to the role of mass media. In those days, especially news paper as mass media had a huge impact on citizens. Citizens were vulnerable to information because they did not have any means to analyze with an insight. It was always natural for the vast of people to follow the majority without a certain belief. He feared that the tyranny of the majority would eventually lead to depravity of the whole society. Now that a whole social structure has dramatically changed from Tocqueville’s age. Forms of media have been evolving from old types such as news paper to Internet. 

Recently, within Internet, social media is coming to forefront. These changes seem to be transforming society. There seems to exist opportunities for the minorities, which was quite unimaginable in the past. Does this mean that fears that Tocqueville had had been overcome? Is true democracy about to be accomplished? What are new pitfalls of democracy that modern society has, compared with those Tocqueville feared? 

読書『ブログ論壇の誕生』佐々木俊尚著

あえてこのタイミングで佐々木俊尚さん(@sasakitoshinao)の『ブログ論壇の誕生』を読みました。

[気になった箇所の備忘録]

•  情念の表出は、文章のメディアではなく、動画という情念的なメディアとの方がより親和性が高い。ここの圏域に、ニコニコ動画はきわめて見事にはまっているのである。

• 「（戦争の）悲惨さは『持つ者が何かを失う』から悲惨なのであって、『何も持っていない』私からすれば、戦争は悲惨でも何でもなく、むしろチャンスとなる。（中略）社会に出た時期が人間の序列を決める擬似デモクラティックな社会の中で、一方的にイジメ抜かれる私達にとっての戦争とは、現状をひっくり返して、『丸山眞男』の横っ面をひっぱたける立場にたてるかもしれないという、まさに希望の光なのだ」

• 米スタンフォード大のローレンス・レッシング教授は、人間の行動を規定するものとして①規範②法律③市場④アーキテクチャ（システムの設計概念）の四種類を挙げた。