OSP: CLAY SHIRKY- END OF AUDIENCE

Media Magazine reading

1) Looking over the article as a whole, what are some of the positive developments due to the internet highlighted by Bill Thompson?

-That’s possible because the internet lets any two connected computers exchange data in the form of binary messages – 1 and 0.

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

-The network is becoming invisible, as connectivity becomes seamless, pervasive and fast enough to just work most of the time. We stop seeing it – we only see the connectivity.

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

-The idea of ‘openness’ lies at the centre of this debate: I believe that 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?

-Today’s internet is a vast, unregulated, worldwide experiment in openness.

-We cannot simply pull down the walls to the unimpeded flow of information and expect no consequences.

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 a bit more control over the internet as inappropriate things are always getting revealed as people find ways to get around things so they should work harder on censoring things.

Clay Shirky: Here Comes Everybody

1) How does Shirky define a ‘profession’ and why does it apply to the traditional newspaper industry?

- To 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”?

- The idea that someone might build four-colour presses that ran around the clock was easy to grasp. The idea that the transmission of news via paper might become a bad idea, that all those huge, noisy printing presses might be like steam engines in the age of internal combustion, was almost impossible to grasp.

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

- He announced that he would not seek to remain majority leader in the new Congress.

4) What is ‘mass amateurisation’?

- Mass amateurisation occurs by removing or weakening the entry barriers to a professional field.

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’?

- When an idea or message is published so many times the meaning can get lost or changed in the process.

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?

- There were effects that could lead to revolution or chaos.

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 there is a loss of professional control which will be bad for the society's core intentions.

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?

- The printing press broke more things than it fixed. 

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

- Taking and publishing photographs doesn't even require the purchase of a camera (mobile phones already sport surprisingly high-quality digital cameras), and it certainly doesn't require access either to a darkroom or to a special publishing outlet.

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? 

-  Mass amateurisation can be seen as a good thing as it means you can spread information with little to no cost and makes it easier to publish things.