Clay Shirky: End of audience blog tasks
Media Magazine reading
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?
The internet is open to innovation such as emails for easy communication, searching up things on websites for information, Spotify and YouTube as sources for entertainment.
2) What are the negatives or dangers linked to the development of the internet?
The internet is dangerous due to its lack of regulations and moderation. For example, spamming of scams but also harmful images of child abuse and other dangerous content. Due to a lack of moderation, as it is difficult to control what occurs online, cybercrime is hard to track and punishing perpetrators is also difficult which has many ethical issues.
3) What does ‘open technology’ refer to? Do you agree with the idea of ‘open technology’?
Open technology refers to the internet being a place where individuals are free to share opinions whether it be on politics or social justice. It also means that people are free to express themselves however they want and the internet is a place where audiences are heard. I agree with the idea of open technology but there should also be restrictions to avoid negative content and ideologies from being spread.
4) Bill Thompson outlines some of the challenges and questions for the future of the internet. What are they?
Some challenges and questions for the future of the internet are if the internet can help to make the world more fair for people across the world and how the network can delivery privacy. He highlights how our actions and choices will determine and shape "tomorrows network".
5) Where do you stand on the use and regulation of the internet? Should there be more control or more openness? Why?
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" is something that exists to solve a hard problem and requires "some sort of specialization". Shirky applies this idea to the traditional newspaper industry as they are professionals who decide what goes on the front page and what audiences see first.
2) What is the question facing the newspaper industry now the internet has created a “new ecosystem”?
From the "new ecosystem" created by the internet, the newspaper industry doesn't need to question "why publish this" but instead can question themselves "why not" as the internet allows them to produce news without the costs of printing and publishing physical print.
3) Why did Trent Lott’s speech in 2002 become news?
Trent Lott's 2002 speech became news due to liberal and conservative bloggers who revisited the speech despite the press ignoring what Lott had said.
4) What is ‘mass amateurisation’?
Mass amateurization is how social tools remove obstacles and barriers that were previously set in place to public expression and removes "the bottlenecks that characterized mass media".
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 be linked the fake news as in this world of modern media and technology, any one can release their own content including news. The fact that this is so simple to do means that there is tons of news sources which is hard to regulate to ensure fake news isn't being spread. Therefore, Shirkly's statement shows how in the current media landscape it is possible that fake news is promoted and viewed much more then real and verified news.
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 the social effects of technological change lag behind by decades. This may mean that we are going through an internet revolution or the effects are slowly happening due to recent technological advancements such as AI.
7) Shirky says that “anyone can be a publisher… [and] anyone can be a journalist”. What does this mean and why is it important?
This means that due to the internet any one can create their own content as the internet and social media has made media production much simpler. Furthermore, social media has allowed everyone to be a journalist as people are free to share information on news with little regulation. Shirky says this is a problem as according to him journalistic privilege should be for a minority of people to preserve the law behind journalism.
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?
He suggested that the printing press plunged Europe into a "intellectual and political chaos" which I think we can see in recent internet evolutions with AI as people are becoming more dependent on AI rather then doing their own work and research on politics and other related topics.
9) Why is photography a good example of ‘mass amateurisation’?
Photography is a good example of mass amateurization as the spread of digital cameras and creation of photo hosting sites has removed the barriers to becoming a photographer and has allowed more people to get into photography as its more accessible.
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 agree that we are in an era of mass amateurisation as well as the end of audience as the internet has given many opportunities and acts as a starting point for many careers such as journalism and photography without the barriers to join these careers. However, I don't think we are in a period of “intellectual and political chaos” as the internet now just acts as an extension of journalism rather then something completely separate.
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