Throughout
the book the authors also discuss how these videos, trends or movements become
viral. One of the key factors they explain is the concept of a Gatekeeper. They
go on to say, “Gatekeepers are people, collectives, companies or governments
that, as a result of their location in a network can promote or suppress the
movement of information from one part of a network to another.” (Hemsley &
Nahon, 2013, p. 7) In other words Gatekeepers are responsible for what we see
on the Internet.
An example
that the authors bring up that affects us in our everyday lives is seen with
Facebook. Facebook uses algorithms to rank what is shown above other things in
your Facebook newsfeed. They also hold the power to censor and delete posts
that violate their terms of service. (Hemsley & Nahon, 2013) Facebook can
use this power to their advantage due to the millions of people that use their
service. People use Facebook to stay connected with their friends, and share
information, but at the end of the day, it is Facebook that controls what is
seen, not the user.
Another
example of a Gatekeeper can be seen when the news of Osama Bin Laden’s killing
had started leaking out. While the actual first tweet of the story came from a
virtual no name, former military member Keith Urbahn, the man who held all the
power was a man named Dan Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer ran the official Twitter account
for the White House, and while news of Urbahn’s tweet was circulating, Pfeiffer
tweeted that President Obama was going to address the country. In this case,
Pfeiffer is a Gatekeeper because he is in complete control of what information
people see. The authors claim that it is highly likely that Pfeiffer knew
exactly what Obama was going to announce, but Pfeiffer had the power as a
Gatekeeper to withhold it, and make the country wait and hear. (p. 43-44)
This
relates directly back to a term that James Beniger (1990) uses, known as the
“Crisis of Control.” This term is used to describe times where technological
growth is so big that the information coming in and out can no longer be
controlled. The examples given in his article stem from times in the late 1800s
where producers could finally distribute their products nationwide, and not
just to a local consumer. Societies had never had to deal with so much
information coming in and out, so they needed a way to control it. A Gatekeeper
if you will. Beniger claims that the technology that saved this Crisis of
Control was the development of the telegraph. When the telegraph was paired in
use with the railroad system it created a communication infrastructure. It
controlled what information came in, and what went out. (p.56-63)
Whether it
be Facebook posts, presidential tweets or 19th century commercial
products, our society has always used a Gatekeeper to control the flow of
information.
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