OSP: 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?
2) What are the negatives or dangers linked to the development of the internet?
3) What does ‘open technology’ refer to? Do you agree with the idea of ‘open technology’?
Open technology refers to many things. Firstly, it means...
4) Bill Thompson outlines some of the challenges and questions for the future of the internet. What are they?
Challenges and questions for the future of the internet include:
5) Where do you stand on the use and regulation of the internet? Should there be more control or more openness? Why?
I believe that the openness of the internet at the moment is fine and doesn't need changing. However, there should be more regulation to prevent some cases, such as scams, frauds, child pornography and cyber bullying. These are cases that can easily happen on the internet and they need to be controlled because they affect so many individuals.
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?
Shirky defines a profession as a specialisation that exists to solve a hard problem. This relates to the newspaper industry as newspaper executives are professionals who are responsible for deciding what goes on the front page of a newspaper. They act as gatekeepers, controlling the information that is given to their readers.
2) What is the question facing the newspaper industry now the internet has created a “new ecosystem”?
How will society be informed of the news today? Newspapers exist to print, publish and deliver a bundle of news in way that is profitable. This model has been disrupted by the internet- as anyone can publish anything for free. Therefore, newspapers need to ask themselves 'Why publish this?'
They also ask themselves "What happens when the costs of reproduction and distribution go away?"
" What happens when there's nothing unique about publishing anymore, because users can do it for themselves?"
3) Why did Trent Lott’s speech in 2002 become news?
His speech became news because he said something very controversial: "I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either."
However, what kept the story alive was not the press but liberal and conservative bloggers, cycles. The weekend after Lott's remarks, weblogs with millions of readers didn't just report his comments, they began to editorialise. The editorialisers included some well-read conservatives such as Glenn Reynolds of the Instapundit blog, who wrote, "But to say, as Lott did, that the country would be better off if Thurmond had won in 1948 is, well, it's proof that Lott shouldn't be majority leader for the Republicans, to begin with. And that's just to begin with."
4) What is ‘mass amateurisation’?
Mass amateurisation is a term used to describe society becoming less intelligent. Many self-published content on the internet are less trustworthy and inaccurate than real newspaper companies, such as The New York times, (surveys showed). Society trusts this news or focuses more on soft news, rather than hard news, leading to mass amateurisation.
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’?
These types of news gather more attention from readers because they are essentially everywhere, meaning that the news published by professional outlets gets ignored. This can be linked to current media landscapes, especially MailOnline, because they are powered by the consumers. The number of clicks on an article determines where it ends up on the page. This pluralist model has led to fake or soft news ending up at the top.
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 change. This means that the transition from something old to something new is chaotic. Therefore, I believe that we are in the midst of the internet 'chaos' because industries are still struggling to cope with the problems the introduction of the internet has created for them.
7) Shirky says that “anyone can be a publisher… [and] anyone can be a journalist”. What does this mean and why is it important?
By this, he means that everyone who has access to the internet can publish anything they want and it can then be read by anyone around the world, so they essentially become a publisher. This is important because it disrupts journalist privilege and there becomes confusion on who can be considered a real journalist.
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 printing press broke more things than it fixed in the 100 years following the printing press revolution. This led to a period of intellectual and political chaos that only ended in the 1600s. An example of a recent global event is the arrest of Josh Wolf, a video blogger who refused to hand over video of a 2005 demonstration he observed in San Francisco. He served 226 days in prison.
9) Why is photography a good example of ‘mass amateurisation’?
Photography is a good example of mass amateurisation because it has now become very easy for anyone to take a photo using their mobile devices. They can then upload or even sell this photo. The price of 'professional' photos has declined dramatically and the actual photographers who have spent years studying the subject don't get enough credit.
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 with Shirky's ideas on the 'End of audience' because we are no longer passive absorbers of information, we know create and produce our own content, as well as engage with other creators. However, I also slightly agree with the fact that it is a period of “intellectual and political chaos” because it is difficult to find quality journalism in today's age and people also appear to be unaware of the truth. For example, the fact that Donald Trump is now president of America and the fact that England voted pro-Brexit.
Optional extension: read Chapter 1 ‘It takes a village to find a phone’ and Chapter 4 ‘Publish, then filter’ to further understand Shirky’s ideas concerning the ‘End of audience’.
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?
- Gave people in access to communicate with each other
- Provides a great source of information
- Can be used for campaigning and political action
- Can be used to make a lot of money
- Express your creativity
- Given people a voice and more freedom
2) What are the negatives or dangers linked to the development of the internet?
- A lot of abuse and bullying happens over the internet
- Pornography is easily accessible
- Illegal images of child abuse are present
- Extremists and radicals can use the network to try and influence people
- Fraud, scams and malicious software are everywhere
- The dark web- used to sell drugs or for illegal activity
Open technology refers to many things. Firstly, it means...
- an internet built around the ‘end-to-end’ principle, where any connected computer can exchange data with any other computer, while the network itself is unaware of the ‘meaning’ of the bits exchanged
- computers that will run any program written for them, rather than requiring them to be vetted and approved by gateway companies
- free software that can be used, changed and redistributed by anyone without payment or permission
I don't agree with an 'open technology' because it can be very difficult to control what is happening.
4) Bill Thompson outlines some of the challenges and questions for the future of the internet. What are they?
Challenges and questions for the future of the internet include:
- A more unregulated world
- A less private life
- We know you care about other people around the world, and want a fairer, more just world – so how can the network help there?
- We know you want to understand the world and engage with it, so how do we deliver news media that can operate effectively online and still make money?
5) Where do you stand on the use and regulation of the internet? Should there be more control or more openness? Why?
I believe that the openness of the internet at the moment is fine and doesn't need changing. However, there should be more regulation to prevent some cases, such as scams, frauds, child pornography and cyber bullying. These are cases that can easily happen on the internet and they need to be controlled because they affect so many individuals.
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?
Shirky defines a profession as a specialisation that exists to solve a hard problem. This relates to the newspaper industry as newspaper executives are professionals who are responsible for deciding what goes on the front page of a newspaper. They act as gatekeepers, controlling the information that is given to their readers.
2) What is the question facing the newspaper industry now the internet has created a “new ecosystem”?
How will society be informed of the news today? Newspapers exist to print, publish and deliver a bundle of news in way that is profitable. This model has been disrupted by the internet- as anyone can publish anything for free. Therefore, newspapers need to ask themselves 'Why publish this?'
They also ask themselves "What happens when the costs of reproduction and distribution go away?"
" What happens when there's nothing unique about publishing anymore, because users can do it for themselves?"
3) Why did Trent Lott’s speech in 2002 become news?
His speech became news because he said something very controversial: "I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either."
However, what kept the story alive was not the press but liberal and conservative bloggers, cycles. The weekend after Lott's remarks, weblogs with millions of readers didn't just report his comments, they began to editorialise. The editorialisers included some well-read conservatives such as Glenn Reynolds of the Instapundit blog, who wrote, "But to say, as Lott did, that the country would be better off if Thurmond had won in 1948 is, well, it's proof that Lott shouldn't be majority leader for the Republicans, to begin with. And that's just to begin with."
4) What is ‘mass amateurisation’?
Mass amateurisation is a term used to describe society becoming less intelligent. Many self-published content on the internet are less trustworthy and inaccurate than real newspaper companies, such as The New York times, (surveys showed). Society trusts this news or focuses more on soft news, rather than hard news, leading to mass amateurisation.
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’?
These types of news gather more attention from readers because they are essentially everywhere, meaning that the news published by professional outlets gets ignored. This can be linked to current media landscapes, especially MailOnline, because they are powered by the consumers. The number of clicks on an article determines where it ends up on the page. This pluralist model has led to fake or soft news ending up at the top.
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 change. This means that the transition from something old to something new is chaotic. Therefore, I believe that we are in the midst of the internet 'chaos' because industries are still struggling to cope with the problems the introduction of the internet has created for them.
7) Shirky says that “anyone can be a publisher… [and] anyone can be a journalist”. What does this mean and why is it important?
By this, he means that everyone who has access to the internet can publish anything they want and it can then be read by anyone around the world, so they essentially become a publisher. This is important because it disrupts journalist privilege and there becomes confusion on who can be considered a real journalist.
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 printing press broke more things than it fixed in the 100 years following the printing press revolution. This led to a period of intellectual and political chaos that only ended in the 1600s. An example of a recent global event is the arrest of Josh Wolf, a video blogger who refused to hand over video of a 2005 demonstration he observed in San Francisco. He served 226 days in prison.
9) Why is photography a good example of ‘mass amateurisation’?
Photography is a good example of mass amateurisation because it has now become very easy for anyone to take a photo using their mobile devices. They can then upload or even sell this photo. The price of 'professional' photos has declined dramatically and the actual photographers who have spent years studying the subject don't get enough credit.
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 with Shirky's ideas on the 'End of audience' because we are no longer passive absorbers of information, we know create and produce our own content, as well as engage with other creators. However, I also slightly agree with the fact that it is a period of “intellectual and political chaos” because it is difficult to find quality journalism in today's age and people also appear to be unaware of the truth. For example, the fact that Donald Trump is now president of America and the fact that England voted pro-Brexit.
Optional extension: read Chapter 1 ‘It takes a village to find a phone’ and Chapter 4 ‘Publish, then filter’ to further understand Shirky’s ideas concerning the ‘End of audience’.
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