One degree of separation

The terrible images of the last moments of Iranian Neda Soltan after she was shot, apparently by a state assassin, once again shows the power of social media to bring political events to the attention of millions. Within hours of her death, Neda became a martyr to the protest movement in Iran. She has become a symbol of the tragic events currently unfolding in that country. Her death may even affect diplomatic relations, such as they are, between Iran and the West.

Meanwhile, and almost as affecting in a different way, was the police video of their own brutal treatment of two environmental campaigners at the Kingsnorth power station, broadcast on last night's news. The campaigners provocation was to film the police unit that was filming the protesters and to demand to know their police numbers, which the officers involved apparently were not displaying. The same pattern of police brutality and unlawful anonymity was on display during the G20 protests earlier this year. 

Camera phones, Facebook and Twitter all appear to be equalising the battle between the Big Brother state and those opposing it. Of course, it remains an unequal contest. In Iran, some reports suggest that the reason Neda Soltan was shot was because she was holding a phone - one of the main weapons of the Iranian opposition.

While in the past it has been a truism of political theory that the modern state seeks to maintain a monopoly of violence, in the 21st century the battle appears to be over the monopoly of surveillance. Thanks to technology, just as they can watch us, we can watch them, and if they are not careful - and apparently they appear to be recklessly careless, Abu Ghraib anyone? - what they do, and what they film, will end up being broadcast for the whole world to see.

It was only three years ago in the Lebanon war that Israel appeared to suffer its biggest setback in the field of digital media. Gruesome images of the children killed in its onslaught were posted on websites and into the inboxes of thousands, part of a successful media campaign by Hizbollah that led to worldwide revulsion against Israel. If Israel and Iran have anything in common these days, it is the way in which digital media in the hands of activists is revealing the impact of their actions to the world. It may not be balanced or objective, if such things remain possible when anyone can place their unique view into the court of public opinion, but it is the way the world is now seen by millions of people. And compared to what we see as news, it sometimes feels that the activists and amateur observers are better able to expose the truth.

Of course, there are still places where the digital camera and the blogger activist do not seem to be able to reach. If you are the perpetrator or victim of violence in conflict zones such as Somalia or Sri Lanka, it appears that very little of the bloodshed will be broadcast into the blogosphere and, later, in the mass media of the rich world. The world is definitely getting smaller, but it is still divided into the seen and the unseen.

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Strange days

I have to apologise for my absence - so much has been happening in my life and in the development of About Time, that I have hardly been able to pause for breath. A death in the family. That is enough to cope with. But I am moving home, planning a major event in my life and, um, getting ready for fatherhood.

On top of all this, Circa Circa (our company) has been producing new versions of About Time for America and Germany. This is very exciting indeed - these are the biggest game markets in the world. And we are doing this with real contracts rather than a wing and a prayer.

All these things and more have kept me away from posting. This is not what you would call real-time web. But it is very much real life, intervening. I suppose sometimes life speeds up and intensifies. It is difficult to know how to define this change, other than to say, we have stepped off the bus and got on the rollercoaster. Of course, some things we can do nothing about, like mortality. But it does put life in perspective, giving you a sense of what matters, and what might be possible. Even how to act and not to hesitate. I suppose this is what you do when you lose a loved one - you can perhaps see clearly and make decisions, act.

We've been building to this point, and there are hopeful signs that important things are afoot. If I am writing in non-specific metaphysical terms, sorry. It's late - or early - and there's so much to do!