CUBA, FREEDOM BLOCKED

The situation in many countries about the repression made in Internet, it’s stronger in the Central American country of Cuba. The country is in a constant government control over this way that allows the communication between all the citizens of the world, which is why that after the approval of the permission to access to Internet in 2009 but with restrictions, proved to be one of the major steps taken by this country, but it is also quite insignificant for many people. Cuban authorities approved the use of Internet law for all the citizens. This move involves a change in the government policy, which until this year had limited social network to use it, giving access only to institutions, companies, and a small group of just over 100,000 people, including intellectuals and scientists. 

For the previous weeks before this measure taken on September 14, 2009, had already authorized the Cubans' access to Internet cafes in hotels, where they could connect to the Internet using computers, using WI-FI system. However, it was a measure that could be changed from time to time. It's the end of the state of monopoly on information. 

The minister decided to "authorize the Post Office of Cuba as a provider of Internet Access Services to the Public, which should be paid to individuals in the country through their areas of Internet," exact words. Post offices installed computers to “allow” surf the net to any Cuban. Until now there was a similar structure but only gave access to an internal network, an intranet with sites selected by the government. 

It seemed in the first step is not used all post offices, as explained to BBC employees of the Ministry of Information. "We will select one city" and to the extent necessary, it can expand. This measure removed the ban but the government continues with its proposed "social use" of the Internet, to extend that there is no possibility of accessing Internet from home. This is because the country does not have enough bandwidth. According to Cuban authorities, the United States have prevented Internet companies trading with Cuba increased access to the network, in addition, all communications are more expensive as they are made via satellite because Washington does not allow the submarine cable work. 

In short this could all change. U.S. President Barack Obama, authorized telecommunications companies to negotiate with Havana the following year and it could be completed the installation of a telephone cable between Cuba and Venezuela. These new technological possibilities could reduce prices of service at this time are extremely high. A one-hour card costs $ 7 at a hotel and full access from home is worth $ 150 a month. 

In the case of the network, there are tens of thousands of illegal accounts, workers negotiated directly between suppliers and customers. They cost about $ 50 per month and provide full service, equal to that received by legal subscribers. In that moment nobody could know how many people have access to the network but could exceed one million. Anyway, the Cuban government maintains filters to prevent entry into the pages most radical anti-Castro exile, while allowing access to the world press, including the largest newspaper in the Miami Cuban-American. 

NEWS A LA CARTE; CHOOSE WHATEVER YOU LIKE

The media previously proposed has never been based in what really interested, the viewer was always bound to read, hear or see what other people wished, caused by the minimal number of media that can communicate and inform but it wasn’t allowed the access to information for your own pleasure. This situation changed dramatically with the growing trend of the new mass media, an approach involving a larger number of people but, over time, the personal approach became possible with the creation of Internet. This project began with the simple aim of creating a whole globalization of exited people which wanted to participate in entering in a virtual world where everything, absolutely everything, is related.

The problem, or rather the main characteristic, is that this was not possible, since there wasn’t an expected "union", but an individual approach to any group of persons. What I intend to express in this article is how things have turned to an individualism; specifically I want to focus on what curiously called "News a la carte."

We can summarize news as a language production that requires an event with a great importance and therefore, it has many features based mainly on current, novelty, accuracy, frequency and public interest. In contrast, the situation that we find today has one more peculiar reference to the characteristics obtained, because in our society the most influential is public interest and exactly, personal interest. In these news, self-interest plays a principal role, because we have to think for a moment that we have the possibility to choose the news which we want to read, speak or comment; so, we always tend to news that really interest us, we really address facets that we are looking for, then this is the key to Internet, which apart from its plurality in terms of content, you should always have a content based on what people want to be "elected" in this huge "menu" of contents.

Ironic picture about News "a la carte"

The media move as the interest of the event as news. An event that does not matter, it’s not selected and not published and, following as the popular method, does not exist. In contrast, currently, the mass media ensure that public attention which is a very subjective value but it is the centre of the journalistic profession. That is, all this has opened doors to many ideas, people, and qualities that previously were not paying attention, but instead, today, as we are free to choose what really interests you to each person, these ideas have been published and thus grow to the general public.

However, I didn’t want to end my idea about “News a la carte”, explaining very exactly some of the misconceptions that society itself may have. One of the concepts which are often confused in journalism is the public interest and public interest. The first focuses on the facts we affect people in everyday life, habits of conduct, ideas or beliefs, while public interest is a psychological idea as to generate ideas or emotions that move such as human drama, events, or surprising facts. We also need to distinguish between the interesting news that deal with ordinary people in unusual situations, and important news, where we could include the tragedies and bad news. This division is made mainly with regard to the concerns of the people, and this is where we start with our idea of ​​choosing what we really catchy.

Therefore, we end up with the successful conclusion of a wide possibility for readers of all Internet users and other mass media, but also a negative image for the writers, as they should really focus on what the public demands and not what they want to provide. News a la carte is, therefore, a double-edged sword.

Revolution in social networks: the Spanish Tuenti

The huge excitement about social networks has grown in our country with the increase of the famous "Tuenti". Tuenti is a social network created in January 2006 and is one of the most visited sites in Spain. It works by invitation and this website was created firstly for Spanish population and allows, as well as other social networks, to create an user's own profile, upload photos and videos, connect with friends, and more services. 


Its creator was Zaryn Dentzel, an American student currently living in Madrid (Spain). At first it was created to university students and a few people could use it, but after its success, it was allowed to entry more users, but only if you have invitations. This social network currently has 9.2 million active users in Spain (November 2010), most of them students between 14 and 28. Interestingly, Zaryn Dentzel said that the name "Tuenti" arose because it looks like "tu entidad" and because it sounded good, apart from making reference to the range (Twenty-year-olds students) that was directed to. Telefonica is the recent owner of Tuenti, and they try to expand to other countries (mainly from Latin America and Europe). 


Tuenti added in November 2007 the functionality of create events, which allows you to organize important. This function was created with the intention that users can organize parties, meetings or activities, public or private, but most users use it now to make events about publicity, announce different situations, sometimes ambiguous news, of which many are jokes, in which sentences appear funny, entertaining or calling attention to the public to look forward to more users and thus increase the assistance or interest to the event. 

Also released in September 2009, the chat feature, which was expanded on August 10 2010, to incorporate video chat. Web surfers can browse their contacts’ profiles, upload photos and post videos and chat with friends. You can also propose to participate in games with any of your friends from the chat.

Surprisingly, from the December 21, 2010, Tuenti mobile serves as Telefonica OMV has therefore been increasing in popularity, yet their influence among young people. The name of the operator is "Tu", trying to make a clear concept of operations focused on the social network users referred. Like the system of access to the social network, to enjoy mobile operator services, it is necessary to receive an invitation from someone who is already signed as a client to "Tu." Besides, it is found in many types of mobile phones by providing access to applications for iPhones, Blackberry, Android and others. 

According to the latest statistics in January 2011, each week there are about 8,000 new users and each user is estimated that dedicates two hours of use per session, while in other social networks like MySpace is not reached within 45 minutes. In addition Tuenti has a helpline which provides information about privacy and how to report cyberbullying to fight with one bar of internet, anonymously, either through pages, events, or messages received. 


Finally, we can say that the fantastic world of social networking has gained greater popularity with the rise of our Spanish network, thanks to Tuenti.