Clay Shirky: End of audience

 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?

Today, the network is becoming invisible, as connectivity becomes seamless, pervasive and fast enough to just work most of the time.

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

Makes it next to impossible to stop spam, abuse or the trading of images of child abuse.

We should be acutely aware of what it is, how it works, and how to ensure it is a tool for active

citizenship, free expression and social justice, rather than one for oppression, surveillance, control and repression.

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

 If we want an open society based around principles of equality of opportunity, social justice and free expression, we need to build it on technologies which are themselves ‘open’, and that this is the only way 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?

It is already having significant impact because of the largely unanticipated consequences of the global adoption of a set of technologies that were built around an assumption of openness without any real concern for the broader implications.

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

I think particular aspects should be better controlled for peoples safety whilst also keeping the internet open and free to use however anyone wants.

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 specialisation label something a profession means to define the ways in which it is more than just a job. In the case of newspapers, 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”?

'What happens when anyone can publish?'

3) Why did Trent Lott’s speech in 2002 become news?
Bloggers discussed the comments online which caused the story to spread. Eventually mainstream media organisations picked it up later than they regularly would.

4) What is ‘mass amateurisation’?

The mass amateurisation of publishing undoes the limitations inherent in having a small number of traditional press outlets.

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 how quickly fake news can be spread on the internet and be believed as true after miscommunication and word of mouth online.

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?
That when new technology is introduced, it can cause a lot of change and disruption before society gets used to it. 

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 people don't need to work for a newspaper or media company to publish something anymore. Anyone with a phone and internet connection can post news, opinions, pictures or videos. This is important because it gives ordinary people more control over what they publish and allows more different opinions to be heard.

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?
That the printing press caused a lot of intellectual and political chaos for around 100 years before society adjusted to it. There's many instances of intellectual and political chaos after the internet became a global tool like the passing around of fake news.

9) Why is photography a good example of ‘mass amateurisation’?
It's a good example because now almost  everyone has access to a camera on their phone so experts and professionals aren't the only people who can do photography.

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 think it can be both good and bad as it allows new perspectives to be seen but also allows for a spread of misinformation and unprofessionalism.