Assignment #2 Time the Man of the Year

“Jiyeon, why not start facebook?”

“Ah, too bothersome. I’m too lazy to login to that thing every day and update it.”

“It’s fun you know. You need some contact with people.”

“I always see my friends in the dorm. Why do I have to do that thing?”

“Well, it is your choice.”

Last December I no longer could ignore the trend. I became one of the many supporters of Mark Zuckerberg. When I heard the news that Times selected Mark Zuckerberg as the Time Person of the Year, I thought it was pretty reasonable.

Selecting the Time Person of the Year has started from 1927. Time selects the most influential figure around the world and discusses that person. Since then, many people, organization, computer, and even planet were selected as the Time Person of the Year. In 2010, Mark Zuckerberg got the honorable chance to show his face up in the magazine. Some people, however, seem to disagree with the fact that Mark Zuckerberg deserved the place; “Julian Assange is the better one.”

Mark Zuckerberg, the establisher of the facebook, did affect a lot of people around the world. In 2004 when the facebook first launched, the network was only for the Havard students. The membership expanded into students in other colleges in Boston and then into students in the Ivy Leagues. In 2006, the facebook found its function as the “social network.”

We, people living in the 21st century, are exploring the new method of making relationships. Technological advancement allowed people to make broader relationship with others. People are no longer only in contact with their closest friends. People can make friends online even if they do not know their faces and characteristics. Social network has contributed a lot to this syndrome. More and more people are being connected to each other by the Internet; today, the FACEBOOK. Humans were truly social animals; more than 600 million people are using facebook. Every day, a billion new posts, including photos and video clips, are posted on facebook. Mark Zuckerberg changed the way of communication. He was influential enough to get the title: the Man of the Year. Was he ENOUGH to deserve the title?

WikiLeaks is an international nonprofit organization that reveals the secret and personal information. The “right to know” and the “freedom of the press” are well conducted by this website. WikiLeaks had revealed the secrets of Afghanistan War, Iraq War, conflict between North and South Korea, and other top ranked issues. Without the effort of Julian Assange, people would have never known what was going on throughout the world. The US government argued that some of the information threatened national security. Julian Assange was arrested.

People, however, were no longer numb or ignorant; they were able to see the truth hidden inside the lies. People used to think that there should be the so-called “state secret” or the “military secret” for national security. When people faced the truth, they were shocked by what the governments had done. People had been living inside a made up world by the government employees. Government and corporations tried to seal their negative aspects and tried to maintain their positive image. What WikiLeaks and Julain Assange achieved was entire paradigms shift. While Mark Zuckerberg introduced a different communication method, Julian Assange introduced new topics for communication.

Mark Zuckerberg influenced 600 million people’s life. Out of that 600 million, active facebook users were only 15 million. Those 15 million users were certain groups, mostly from the US and Europe. People in Middle Asia, China, and Africa did not seem to use facebook that much. Also, there is this two cut cartoon with Julian Assange saying, “I give private information on corporation to you for free, and I’m a villain.” Mark Zuckerberg says, “I give your information to corporations for money, and I’m Man of the Year.”

Between Mark Zuckerberg and Julian Assange, who should be the person of the year? One who created a new method of communication for only certain group of people? Who also used the personal information for personal benefit? Or one who created a new paradigm shift by giving out undisclosed information?

“Hey, these days I’m really into facebook.”

“See, I told you. I knew you would like it.”

“Well, I’m not sure if I like it or not. I just feel like I have to use facebook. It is not a pleasant feeling.”

“You are weird, Jiyeon.”