Clay Shirky: End of audience

 Media Magazine reading

1) Looking over the article as a whole, what are some of the positive developments due to the internet highlighted by Bill Thompson?

The internet connects us to other people, it provides us a great source of information, it can be used for campaigning and political action, to draw attention to abuses and fight for human rights, it's a great place for gaming and education, can also be used to make a lot of money and a place where you can meet your friends.

2) What are the negatives or dangers linked to the development of the internet?

There's a lot of bullying and abuse that takes place there, There's pornography, illegal images of child abuse, extremists and radicals can use the network to try and influence people to join them, there's frauds, scams and malicious software everywhere.

3) What does ‘open technology’ refer to? Do you agree with the idea of ‘open technology’?

It refers to the idea that technology itself needs to be 'open'. This will enable it to encourage a diverse online culture that allows all voices to be heard.

4) Bill Thompson outlines some of the challenges and questions for the future of the internet. What are they?

How can the network deliver privacy? How can the network promote equality? 1) Looking over the article as a whole, what are some of the positive developments due to the internet highlighted by Bill Thompson?


5) Where do you stand on the use and regulation of the internet? Should there be more control or more openness? Why?

I think that there should be more control in the media as things can be way too accessible. However, not everything can be controlled and regulated as everything is on the internet.

 

Clay Shirky: Here Comes Everybody

Clay Shirky’s book Here Comes Everybody charts the way social media and connectivity is changing the world. Read Chapter 3 of his book, ‘Everyone is a media outlet’, and answer the following questions:

1) How does Shirky define a ‘profession’ and why does it apply to the traditional newspaper industry?

A profession exists to solve a hard problem, one that requires some sort of specialization. It applies to the traditional newspaper industry as it's more than just a job.

2) What is the question facing the newspaper industry now the internet has created a “new ecosystem”?

The question raised was how society would be informed of their news nowadays - the internet wasn't a competition to newspapers, but rather a whole new market entirely.

3) Why did Trent Lott’s speech in 2002 become news?

Lott's remarks didn't fit the standard template of news.

4) What is ‘mass amateurization’?

Mass amateurization is a result of the radical spread of expressive capabilities.

5) Shirky suggests that: “The same idea, published in dozens or hundreds of places, can have an amplifying effect that outweighs the verdict from the smaller number of professional outlets.” How can this be linked to the current media landscape and particularly ‘fake news’?

This can link to the current media landscape as everything is quite saturated and gets around fairly, fairly quickly. It can particularly link to fake news seeing as that type of content can easily get shared around due to the ease of access of social media - the same idea being published in dozens and hundreds of places, as suggested before.

6) What does Shirky suggest about the social effects of technological change? Does this mean we are currently in the midst of the internet “revolution” or “chaos” Shirky mentions?

Shirky suggests that social effects lag behind technological ones by decades, and real revolutions don't involve an orderly transition from point A to point B. Rather, they go from A through a long period of chaos and only then reach B.

7) Shirky says that “anyone can be a publisher… [and] anyone can be a journalist”. What does this mean and why is it important?

It means that anyone can make content or publish their viewpoint. It's important as now we have the power of free speech in our world, globally.

8) What does Shirky suggest regarding the hundred years following the printing press revolution? Is there any evidence of this “intellectual and political chaos” in recent global events following the internet revolution?

Shirky claimed that for a hundred years after it started, the printing press broke more things than it fixed, plunging Europe into a period of intellectual and political chaos that ended only in the 1600s. Evidence to suggest this in recent times is the arrest of Josh Wolf, a video blogger who refused to hand over video of a 2005 demonstration he observed in San Francisco.

9) Why is photography a good example of ‘mass amateurization’?

Photography is a good example of mass amateurization as photos can be spread quickly and easily, leaning into the "radical spread" talked about before.

10) What do you think of Shirky’s ideas on the ‘End of audience’? Is this era of ‘mass amateurization’ a positive thing? Or are we in a period of “intellectual and political chaos” where things are more broken than fixed? 

In my opinion, I think Shirky does make some decent points, but not all of it is bad. This era of "mass amateurization" is a positive thing, as innovation and free speech has never been more prevalent in today's culture.