The Internet, Channel 2

You can find the backstory here

Currently, all of the information is on "The Internet".  The Good The Bad, and The Ugly. It's all there to find, but there's such a mishmash of information that it's really difficult to find the Good stuff.  

Imagine an internet with only the good stuff.  Only the pages, photos, videos, articles etc. that will make positive changes for the greater good.

Think of it like Wikipedia.  The people populate the pages.  If you see something on the Internet that could change the world, like a new idea for an education system, you click a button to transfer it to The Light Side.  There, it goes to the Moderation forum, where it's picked up by the volunteer Moderators.  The Mods are initially made up of people who are involved in websites like Ted Talks, Soul Pancake, Kid President, Upworthy etc.  New Moderators could be added, based on their own personal posts on the likes of Facebook etc.  It's easy to spot people who want positive change, and to be honest, I believe that everyone does.  The problem isn't finding people who want change, the problem is getting them to believe it's POSSIBLE at all!

Imagine an Internet where there's no religion.  Inspirational memes are ok, but organised religion isn't.  

Imagine an Internet where it doesn't matter what colour you are.  Where racist posts don't even get published - or if they do slip through the net (so to speak!) they can be removed by one of the growing number of moderators.

A self regulating internet.

Where the porn is on another channel.

Where the violence is on another channel.

Where the hatred is on another channel.

Where the destruction of the environment is on another channel.

Where the photos that girl sent to her boyfriend don't go viral, because everyone's too busy looking at the good stuff on channel 2.

We know what we want our kids to see, but we don't want the government to choose for us.  It's far too clear from our educational and vaccination programmes alone that the government can't be trusted to make decisions on what's best for my children and my grandson.  They can't be trusted to make decisions about how to look after our planet - but we can!

Imagine how quickly Channel 2 would populate with good stuff if it was just a matter of clicking a button?  Once a page has been suggested for Channel 2 it goes into a queue for moderation.  The moderators get a control panel, and whatever has been waiting for approval the longest, is at the top of the list.  Once a page has been suggested, the moderator panel has a log of how many times it's been suggested, but it only gets listed once for moderation - it could be that a given number of moderators have to approve it before it goes through, and there could be a separate list of pages that are "under query" for moderators to review if one said they don't think it should be passed - then there can be a discussion or some sort of fact check done.

The people get to decide, not the government.  

Companies decide what ideas they want to take up and manufacture, and we could have a financial ideas section as well.  Ways to change the financial state of the world - Social businesses, micro economies, co-operatives (I particularly love co-operatives - I was born in Rochdale, which is widely known as the birthplace of co-operation)

This is the ultimate co-operative.  

There could be some sort of organic filing system with sub files within it -for example Innovation, with subheadings for environment, social, disabilities, homelessness, farming...  etc. and it would be like an online library for entrepreneurs to set up their own business or invest in an existing business that's announced it's going into production of a particular innovation.

Can you imagine how many people would want to be involved?  More people than all of the governments in the world contain.  True People Power.  The Light Side would easily and quickly overpower the Dark Side - and the Children of the Force would have a safe online place to play, free from violence, religious indoctrination, advertising, bullying, abuse...

You might remember I mentioned in my previous blog about all the information about homelessness being put together.  All the ideas, demonstrations of things that work, investors who want to help, companies who want to be involved, volunteers all working together towards a common goal...

This could be extrapolated for every single thing that's wrong in the world today.  Child abuse, environmental issues, poverty - bringing every single person who has an interest in a particular subject together in one place.  So instead of having 500 organisations trying to solve one little part of the problem, all of the people involved in those 500 organisations come together and work together to solve the problem as a whole.  

A one stop solutions shop, for every single problem.

Internet2.  Built from Internet1, by the people, for the people.

Utopian?  Absolutely.  

Impossible?  Not at all.  It's already been proven possible by Wikipedia, and there will be a way to stop every possible abuse of the system, because we'll all have a vested interest in it working for the common good - because we'll ALL benefit from it.

"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one".  When I was about 7, I came at the top of my class for spelling, maths and... I don't know, something else.  My family were so proud, and my Grandparents bought me this poster and it lived on various bedroom walls of mine for several years 

I can imagine it, but I don't have the technical know-how or the worldwide net to reel in the number of people needed to achieve something so big...

Google, over to you my friend :)