End of audience :Clay Shirky

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 allows us to be able to have access to a way to talk to hundred and thousands of computers around the world.

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

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

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

 I believe 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 voices to be heard.

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

It could be a regulated, managed and limited network, of the sort being constructed in China and Libya,Access to dissenting or distinct voices could be limited and managed, We could choose the apparent safety of a closed network and a closed society.

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

I think there should be more control because people are free to harass or cyberbully individuals which is an offense. I also think that internet should be more regulated in regards of what minors are exposed to and issue warnings of murder scences for example which could be trigerring for some.

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. Driving a race car requires special training-race car drivers are professionals. Driving an ordinary car, though, doesn't require the driver to belong to a particular profession, because it's easy enough that most adults can do it with a modicum of training.

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

Will the ecosytem be destroyed.

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

There had to be a reaction" that the network could air alongside Lott's remarks, and "we had no on camera reaction" available the evening of the party, when the news was still fresh.
4) What is ‘mass amateurisation’?

When the power of the digital revolution is such that everyday users can procure the same kind of celebrity status that was once the sole preserve of cinema.

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’?

The smaller professional outlets news dont get much media coverage and does not reach a large audience due to a lack of power. The more powerful media outlets alter the news and air it imposing their ideology on a large audience.

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 both, because as much internet has made communication skills easier and work , saving people the trouble of travelling expenses, it has also caused a rise in cyberbullying , harassment and unrealistic beauty standards causing an increase in mental health cases.

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

Everyone has the access and means to post anything online and do not have to be signed to a specific media brand so they can put out whatever news they choose to based on the attention it gets. The internet allows us to be anything and everything.

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 states that the internet roll-out has had an equally revolutionary impact as Gutenberg's printing press, placing mass communication tools in the hands of audiences and democratising media production. 
9) Why is photography a good example of ‘mass amateurisation’?

They can be used to capture cinematic shots that cane be used in films and also receive the same attention as others.

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 personally think it has given us an advantage where people can be successful without the need of being signed to a company, it definitely has broken the system but for the better because young influencers now have an opportunity to make a living for themselves and nit be as disadvanatged as before.