clay shirky

Media Magazine 55 has an overview of technology journalist Bill Thompson’s conference presentation on ‘What has the internet ever done for me?’ It’s an excellent summary of the internet’s brief history and its impact on society. Go to our Media Magazine archive, click on MM55 and scroll to page 13 to read the article ‘What has the internet ever done for me?’ Answer the following questions:

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

• email and exchange files with other people at other universities
• The net if open to innovation like email, the web, Spotify or Snapchat

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

• Network becoming invisible
• impossible to stop spam, trading of images and abuse.

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

• having an open society based around principle of equality of opportunity, social justice and free expression and also encourages 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?

• Internet is very vast, unregulated and worldwide experiment in openness. Also has no concerns for broader implications for openness

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

• it is very hard to control but i think it should be controlled due to problems like trading of images and child nudity etc. This should be stopped but furthermore people need their privacy

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?

• Clay shirky defines profession as 'to define the ways in which it is more than just a job'. It applies to traditional newspaper industry  as professional behaviour is guided both by the commercial imperative and by an additional set of norms about what newspapers are, how they should be staffed and run, what constitutes good journalism and so forth.

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

• As a result of the development of the internet and it's new ' ecosystem', the newspaper industry now ask different questions regarding publishing. The questions have changed from 'Why publish this?' to ' Why not?'.

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

• Trent Lott's speech in 2002 became news because of the controversy of his comment. Lott more or less pledged allegiance with Thurmond-  a man known for his republican views. Lott stated, ' if the rest of the country had follow their ' lead', we wouldn't have all these problems'. 

4) What is ‘mass amateurisation’?

• Mass amateurisation: the growth in the amount of self-published content found on the internet. 

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’?

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  Skirky's statement links to the concept of ' fake news' because it indicates that if one news story is consistently repeated throughout the media, then it is more likely to be repeated. 

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?

• We are in the midst of an internet revolution as the internet enables us to encourage significant changes. 

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

• Journalists traditionally needed to be trained in order to know how to seek out newsworthy stories and how to do so quickly. However, now, according to Shirky, anyone can be a publisher/journalist. This implies that audience no longer just consume/watch, they are now able to create it too. Therefore, this means that people do not need to be trained to a high standard in order to create news. 
  
  
  
  

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 suggests that the changes brought about due to the Gutenberg printing press revolution created great anxiety for those who prided themselves on their work/lives. This meant that due to the rise of the printing revolution, scribes were no longer needed therefore it created worry for people who were scared of being jobless. 

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

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  Photography is a good example of ' mass amateurisation' as people can now take professional pictures to add to the media in their own way. Photography required a professional camera in order to produce high quality photos. However, due to the developments in technology, people can now take professional, high quality pictures with their phones. 

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

• I believe that the era of ' mass amateurisation' is a positive thing as it means that people can now add to the media and really develop their own voice by contributing to the news in their own way.