OSP: Clay Shirky - “End of Audience”

​MEDIA MAGAZINE READING:

1.) Bill Thompson claims some positive developments of the internet: “ways to talk to thousands of other computers around the world” and that exchanging of files with others in his university was done much easier. 

2.) The development on the internet has dangers and negative effect of spam or harmful content since the network doesn’t “care what the date means or how it’s used”. 

3.) “Open technology” refers to a digital tool that allows free access of the distribution of media. My opinion is that this is both a positive thing as well as negative, this allows users for complete freedom to do whatever they want wish however this also creates concern for potential harmful material that could be shared. 

4.) Thompson outlines the challenges and questions for the future of the internet due to its unregulated nature, however Thompson suggests that a managed and limited network could be constructed in China and Libya in order to provide regulation and limitations to the internet. 

5.) I think that regulation on the internet is necessary to a degree, it should be placed in order to protect audiences from dangerous and harmful content however the classification of dangerous and harmful content may be difficult since companies may warp this to align with their own prejudges instead of viewing it completely unbiased.

CLAY SHIRKY: HERE COMES EVERYBODY

1.) Shirky defines a “profession” as "more than just a job" and it applies towards the traditional newspaper industry as an occupation upheld by specialised training, ethical standards and a sharped sense of formal expertise that sets credentialed workers apart from everyday amateurs. 

2.) The question facing the newspaper industry now that the internet has created a “new ecosystem” is whether it’s still relevant and necessary. A lot of information regarding the news that be accessed through the internet as well as be accessed live, unlike newspapers. Newspapers also create a mass of paper used and wastage on a daily basis, making the internet more environmentally wary. 

3.) In 2002, Trent Lott’s speech became news because he suggested that the US could have avoided problems if Thurmond had been elected president in 1948.

4.) “Mass amateurisation” is a trend where digital tools and the internet lower restrictions to entry in professional fields- meaning everyday people can do tasks they previously could not since they were reserved for experts of the field. 

5.) The quote links to current media’s “fake news”  because it explores the gullibility of audiences when audience creators begin to out way creative conglomerates, creating a sort of panic of frenzy within actual audiences by other audience members.

6.) Shirky suggests that the social effects of technological change lowers costs of cooperation and turns passive media consumers into active producers. This means that we are currently in the middle of an internet revolution.

7.) Shirky says that “anyone can be a publisher… anyone can be a journalist” meaning … significant because within the era of an internet revolution audience members can now be active producers instead of being passive consumers like they once were, audience members taking more control over than production conglomerates. 

8.) Shirky suggests that that regarding the hundreds of years following the printing press revolution that more things were broken rather than fixed, which may be evidence for the "intellectual and political chaos" of modern day society.

9.) Photography is a good example of “mass amateurisation” because it can be learned at your own speed without any actual credentials, information and education about photography can be easy accessed online without any need of expert education or advice. 

10.) I think that Shirky’s theory of “End of audience” is correct, audiences are no longer passive due to the internet’s interactive nature and more consumers becoming creators (e.g content creators promotions instead of conglomerate advertisements).