The internet has given rise to an incredible amount of alternative websites. These have included various platforms for the promotion of social causes, anarchist movements and even popular culture fanzines. Blogs are proving to be a key feature of the modern alternative media landscape as well as video based services like YouTube and DTube. However, YouTube is now often criticised for promoting leftist content over right wing content, and in so doing significantly risks its reputation if it is prepared to demonstrate such blatant impartiality. So this is precisely where a competitor platform like Hive can step in and help to redress the balance. Since its inception in 2020 the platform continues to demonstrate that it is a fully inclusive social media platform accommodating all sides of the political spectrum, and allowing for far more candid evaluation of social matters and political subjects.
In addition, because of the emergence of alternative news websites a new breed of news has been established. This has enabled alternative news sites to disseminate news with vastly different perspectives on mainstream news matters. It has also engendered the term ‘participatory media’ because of its global appeal and the fact that it encourages direct contributions from ordinary people. However, are these alternative news providers a detriment to our information systems or do they make it possible for a wider analysis of news and current affairs, and therefore increase our knowledge and understanding of the world?
If platforms like Hive are a detriment to the conventional media eco-system then this should surely be welcomed, given the obvious biases in the media and the damaging agenda an overwhelming proportion of it pursues. Some commentators express concerns about the challenges which alternative news media presents, while others embrace it with enthusiasm and see it as a much needed fresh perspective. Me personally, I think these alternative forms of media such like Hive are long overdue. For far too long citizens have been forced to accept a reality constructed by the legacy media which has a very political agenda, and is not there to simply inform. The decentralised nature of Hive also makes it rich for alternative viewpoints to reach the surface. Perspectives you'll never see on BBC or CNN. This is very welcome indeed.
Let me know what you're thinking.
Peace and Light,
Goldstreet