Information Revolution: Part II

            In the years following the Civil War, the newly united states of America were experiencing some definite growing pains, much of which were brought on by print culture. As before the Civil War, writers continued to push for social reform in the areas of women’s and minority rights, especially for newly freed African-American slaves and Chinese-American immigrants. Numerous advocates for social reform, such as Helen Hunt and Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins, sent their works to members of Congress or published them to promote their social reform agenda. Thanks to the invention of the linotype machine, dubbed by Thomas Edison as the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” these works could be produced and distributed more quickly than ever before. This new invention sparked an information revolution that the United States had never experienced before, and enabled anyone with an opinion to express themselves in a more widespread manner.

            In more recent years, the United States has undergone an information revolution in the form of technology. The Internet gives anyone who can get their hands on a computer to express their opinions and to read others’ opinions on almost any topic imaginable through websites, email, blogging, and social media. Whether you post your opinion in your Facebook status, follow your favorite political candidate on Twitter, or regularly blog about your personal views on a particular issue, there are numerous ways to connect with and reach millions of other Internet users around the globe.

            Citizens across the country have the opportunity to make a change through the Internet, and many social reform movements have been started or are kept running through Internet websites. Want to find out the latest on an upcoming election or what your friends are saying about a recent bill passed by Congress? Information is only a click away. Just as the United States underwent an information revolution brought on by innovations in literary ‘technology’ following the Civil War, today the United States is going through a similar revolution through the use of the Internet and social media.