More Notes on Clay Shirky's "Here Comes Everybody"
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Way back in March I started reading Clay Shirky's excellent new book Here Comes Everybody. I wrote this post on the first two chapters of the book and promised to continue to share my thoughts with you as I went along.
So, after finishing the book, here are my belated notes on Chapters 3 and 4. Later chapters will follow soon.
Chapter 3:
(pg. 79) For a generation that is growing up without the scarcity that made publishing such a serious-minded pursuit, the written word has no special value in and of itself.
For all the debate about how the internet is destroying the publishing industry (much of it overblown), I think that this bit gets right to the heart of things. 100 years ago it really cost something to publish someone's work - an investment in printing machines, materials, distribution, etc. Today publishing is free, and this doesn't make all online publishing worthless, but it does mean that choosing to publish someone's words does not necessarily imply an inherent worth.
Chapter 4:
(pg 81) ...break the older pattern of professional filtering of the good from the mediocre before publication; now such filtering is increasing social, and happens after the fact.
This is no surprise, but it dovetails perfectly with one of the main themes of David Weinberger's Everything is Miscellaneous. Weinberger says, "Sort on the way out, not on the way in."
(pg 86) Prior to the internet, when we talked about media, we were talking about two different things: broadcast media and communications media. ...Broadcast media...are designed to put messages out for all to see. ...Communications media...are designed to facilitate two-way conversations. ...The pattern we didn't have until recently was many-to-many, where communications tools enabled group conversation.
What's so different about today's media landscape? Broadcast media enabled one way messages from one-to-many. Communications media enabled two way messages from one-to-one. The internet has enabled two way messages from many-to-many.
(pg 90) ...much of what gets posted [on the internet] on any given day is in public but not for the public.
This is something that most people have a hard time wrapping their heads around. I just like how succinctly Shirky puts it here.
(pg 104) We are used to a world where little things happen for love and big things happen for money. Love motivates people to bake a cake and money motivates people to make an encyclopedia. Now, though, we can do big things for love.
Aside from being a beautiful sentiment, this is actually a profound observation. Because collaboration can be so easily enabled, individuals can contribute so easily, and the potential audience of people who appreciate the work can be so large, we can now harness personal motivations to accomplish grand tasks.
(pg 105) Communications tools don't get socially interesting until they get technologically boring.
This is another of those great sound bites. Shirky means that a technology has to be around long enough for it to be taken for granted before people really start doing amazing things with it. Imagine what's in store for us once the generation born after the internet is running the world?
So, after finishing the book, here are my belated notes on Chapters 3 and 4. Later chapters will follow soon.
Chapter 3:
(pg. 79) For a generation that is growing up without the scarcity that made publishing such a serious-minded pursuit, the written word has no special value in and of itself.
For all the debate about how the internet is destroying the publishing industry (much of it overblown), I think that this bit gets right to the heart of things. 100 years ago it really cost something to publish someone's work - an investment in printing machines, materials, distribution, etc. Today publishing is free, and this doesn't make all online publishing worthless, but it does mean that choosing to publish someone's words does not necessarily imply an inherent worth.
Chapter 4:
(pg 81) ...break the older pattern of professional filtering of the good from the mediocre before publication; now such filtering is increasing social, and happens after the fact.
This is no surprise, but it dovetails perfectly with one of the main themes of David Weinberger's Everything is Miscellaneous. Weinberger says, "Sort on the way out, not on the way in."
(pg 86) Prior to the internet, when we talked about media, we were talking about two different things: broadcast media and communications media. ...Broadcast media...are designed to put messages out for all to see. ...Communications media...are designed to facilitate two-way conversations. ...The pattern we didn't have until recently was many-to-many, where communications tools enabled group conversation.
What's so different about today's media landscape? Broadcast media enabled one way messages from one-to-many. Communications media enabled two way messages from one-to-one. The internet has enabled two way messages from many-to-many.
(pg 90) ...much of what gets posted [on the internet] on any given day is in public but not for the public.
This is something that most people have a hard time wrapping their heads around. I just like how succinctly Shirky puts it here.
(pg 104) We are used to a world where little things happen for love and big things happen for money. Love motivates people to bake a cake and money motivates people to make an encyclopedia. Now, though, we can do big things for love.
Aside from being a beautiful sentiment, this is actually a profound observation. Because collaboration can be so easily enabled, individuals can contribute so easily, and the potential audience of people who appreciate the work can be so large, we can now harness personal motivations to accomplish grand tasks.
(pg 105) Communications tools don't get socially interesting until they get technologically boring.
This is another of those great sound bites. Shirky means that a technology has to be around long enough for it to be taken for granted before people really start doing amazing things with it. Imagine what's in store for us once the generation born after the internet is running the world?
1 Comments:
In the 90s I used to create 'synthesis' reports like this for colleagues. I so love them. Thanks for this.
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