clay shirky end of audience

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?

IT helps theme network with each other and people can connect to each other by the internet. Additionally this can also help them in campaigning as well for human rights or other purposes.

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

Bullying and abuse is being  developed in the Internet and also things like pornography which the parents don't want their kids to watch.

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

open Technologies which are built to suit the principles of equality, social justice, and free expressions that are evident in our society. 

4) Bill Thompson outlines some of the challenges and questions for the future of the internet. What are they?

We cannot simply pull down the walls to the unimpeded flow of information and expect no consequences, so while I continue to think that the real benefits of the network will only be seen if we make it as open as possible,

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

i think i am in the middle as i believe that we should be able to get information to an extent which can help us in educational ways.

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 re- quires some sort of specialisation.This applies to traditional newspaper as it shows that adults don't need to professional in order to read it.

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

This has made newspaper distribution harder and Raises the Question of how society will be informed about the news of the day.

4) What is ‘mass amateurisation’?

Mass amateurization refers to the capabilities that new forms of media have given to non-professionals and the ways in which those non-professionals have applied those capabilities to solve problems (e.g. create and distribute content) that compete with the solutions offered by larger, professional institutions.

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 suggests that many people can use the internet to make news and share their viewpoint which makes it harder for people to believe them.This links to fake news because people will not be able to know the truth properly by having sources by everyone.

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?

he believes that we are in the chaos revolution for the internet.

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 anyone can share their ideas and show stories form their side.Additionally  this is important because this has allowed everyone to share their viewpoint.

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 says that fake news has mislead misinformation to people and people are believing everything what the media is saying has changed a lot of opinions of people.

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

This is because it allows them to  provide evidence of them being in the incident and can us them to threat people.

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 positive because it has allowed everyone opinion to count and that everyone can share their news about themselves and can make a social change.for  example some news about Iraq will not be shown by the media but it can be shared by someone who lives their in oiraq.