Life has never been as fast paced as it is now. Alizah Rose explains this new phenomenon that has been taking over.

Februrary 25th 2009, 10:40 A.M. local time, Amsterdam:  Turkish Airlines flight 1951 departing from Istanbul and bound for Amsterdam crashes just short of the runway at Schipol Airport.
Moments later: The story breaks on micro-blogging service twitter when an eyewitness posts pictures of the crash taken from a mobile phone.
Soon thereafter: CNN and other major news networks pick up the story.
Call it a bystander’s good timing. Call it a fluke. Or call it another example of the new media revolution.
New media refers the various digital or computerized forms of communication technologies that came into being just prior to the turn of the century.  Information sharing via wikis, video blogs, podcasts, social networking sites like Facebook and the transformation of print and analog media into digital formats are all encompassed within new media.  Even tradtional forms of media have been “new mediafied”-  smaller text blocs, more graphics and an aesthetically pleasing layout that mimic the style of a webpage now grace the very magazine you are presently perusing. 
The use of new media devices such as twitter as a viable, legitimate means of gathering and distributing news is rapidly becoming the norm rather than the exception; the image of a reporter with a steno pad and a chewed up #2 pencil now seems archaic. Yet the ramifications of the ascent of new media – and the ensuing questions about who owns and controls information or where the line between public and private should be drawn – could be extremely complex in Turkey, given the (highly censored) flow of information.
New media case in point:  global video sharing site youtube.com has been shut down in Turkey numerous times, and popular blogging site blogger.com was briefly shut down last October, both for violating Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. Further distinguised by the rapid acquistion and dissimination of user-generated content, new media technologies are harder to filter and control thus making them more susceptable to violating censorship regulations. Yet with the various means of circumventing restrictions coupled with twitter’s recent vital role in a national new story, one wonders whether new media should be maligned for its violations or lauded for its practical usage.  Follwoing is a rundown of essential new media services. Check them out and determine for yourself whether the power of new media lies in its potential to connect and transform or divide and distort.  
Twitter :  A micro-blogging site defined by simplicity, functionality and accessibility.  Think of your twitter account as a custom designed newsfeed. All users respond to the question, “What are you doing?” in 140 characters or less.  Each “chirp” or status update is sent and recieved in real time via the web, text or instant messaging. Become a member, follow other members’ updates, and other members follow you. While some have touted twitter as a narcissistic means of sharing superfulous personal information (personally, I don’t care to know who twitters whilst sitting on the can) or a means of stalking celebrities (I confess - I love knowing what Ashton Kutcher learned in Kabbalah study)  it is undeniably effective for speedy networking, idea sharing and even breaking crucial news. With access from multiple communication devices, the freedom to twitter as often or as infrequently as you wish and no obligation to reply directly to followers, you can effortless step in and out of the information slipstream. In short, twitter is what you make of it.
ireports:  CNN created its own user-generated website where citizen journalists can post their own forays into media. At ireport.com, upload videos of anything you consider newsworty; a tornado about to touch down or the image of trees blooming in February as proof of global warming both work. Some use the site as their own personal soapbox; you’ll find videos of citizens whinging or pontificating about the economy as they indulge their inner cultural critic or political commentator. The equation is simple: more people today have access to video cameras and the Internet  than they did to a large-scale printing press in the past. Yet ireports are generally unfiltered, unedited and unscreened by CNN.  Yes, ireports may lack credibility, but they possesses an air of authenticity. With massive media mergers that have decreased the number of news outlets altogether and increased distrust of corporate-owned media outfits,  the shakey and grainy homemade video labeld “independent” offers competition to the well-recognized brand name as a symbol of quality and authenticity in news. 
LinkedIn:  A global online network that connects you to your inner circle of professional confidants and brings job seekers and employers closer together. Linkedin is not a standard job search website; it is an example of the domino effect of networking at its best. Your connections  and your connections’ connections are linked together to create a large web of trusted professionals . Users create their own profile listing accomplishments and strengths and then can easily search for people to collaborate with, connect to or potentially hire. Will LinkedIn replace the obligitory schmoozing at cocktail parties to make connections? Not likely, but it does take some of the footwork out of networking.
Tumblr: This site digitizes the concept of an old-fashioned cork and pushpin bulletin board. Members create their own Tumblr blog, an all-purpose posting board used to display uploaded photos, conversations, songs, quotes, web-links and more.  Tumblr combines the best of blog, photo and music sharing and social networking sties, emphasizing information sharing in various formats.  It’s no wonder the site claims it is “the easiest way to express yourself.” 
In theory, the utopian concept of the web is defined by the free sharing of information and connection between likeminded individuals across the globe.  So while digital media may evolve faster than we can keep up with, individuals and societies don’t change in an instant.  But at least we can can twitter, blog, report and network about it – for now.