Journalists see themselves as cutting out the wittering. Where does that leave the rest of us? I cant remember when I last saw a journalist writing poetry. Their haikus seem, even in war-time, .to consist of “Gotcha!”
Anything popular is often seen as unworthy. Do I smell a rat, or is it the smell of fear that someone else other than the ‘highly trained’ wordsmiths might actually produce something worth reading. Having a go at the ‘proles’ who use Twitter seems to me rather like criticising the electorate for choosing the ‘wrong party’, fearful that there is a chance of democracy actually working. A 90% turnout would not be much of a story.
Graffiti artists were once seen as grubby nuisances but Banksy seems to have elevated it to ‘worthy art’. The same goes for expressing yourself in words. Everyone has to start somewhere. Those who call Twitter wittering must be reading the wrong tweets. Don’t these journalists see they have to apply some judgement?
Everyone is entitled to report on their own lives or voice their opinions. Look out journalists, Here Comes Everybody ! Get a life, have the wit to twit!.
Sian
For a Book Review of Here Comes Everybody ! see earlier Blog.
Showing posts with label Clay Shirky. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Clay Shirky. Show all posts
Sunday, 2 August 2009
Monday, 20 July 2009
Book Review: 'Here Comes Everbody!'
'Here Comes Everybody; How things Change when Everybody Comes Together' by Clay Shirky: Penguin Books [London] 2009 344 pp including acknowledgments, bibliography/notes and index. £9.99.
I am beginning to see so much happening that confirms the view of this author that I thought it was worth digging this review out of the archive now I am beginning to see why my daughter put me on Twitter.
This book is essential reading for those involved in politics, pressure or special interest groups. The internet means that small and large groups alike can come together and pursue their collective aims. The bloggers, FaceBookers and MySpacers escape the cell. (See earlier posting).
From business theory the author leads us through to the dynamics of networks, communications between groups and web communities, and the sociology of the web. The developments which have made sites like Wikipedea, My Space and Face Book possible are chronicled. Perhaps the most significant development for the individual computer literate is the new ease of publication which makes this posting possible. Without the net it would have to be placed with a journal willing to take it. The reviewer would not be taken on trust so a good contact, track record or luck would be needed to get it into print. Without factors such as these it would not be read by anyone other than the reviewer. Now, as explained by Shirky, we are all our own publishers at no great expense and no risk of wasting time or the costs of failure. All the conventional routes are avoided. With the aid of one or two connections it might be seen by many. Examples of such escapes into a wider context are given as examples of how things have changed. The earthquake in China, the Tsunami and the London bombings are some of the examples of how the new technology breaks the news so quickly and often gets things done.
The strength this book is found in the way the author manages to bring many different topics together to show how a new way of doing things has emerged. For the outsider the description of how Wikipedea was developed shows the potential of collaborative work taking place well away from the conventional routines of publishing. If you ever wondered why the age of the ‘amateur’ writer is so looked down on by conventional journalists, then you need not wonder long. According to Shirky they are waiting in line for their turn to disappear like the scribes before them.
Examples of the ease of organising to express grievances are also given. To take on a government or a company as an individual will be no more than a stand on principle, which brings no results, unless others take up the cause. But with the ease of joining together the game has changed. The students who had taken out accounts with HSBC were not pleased to hear, at short notice, that their interest free overdraft facility was to be withdrawn. Dispersed customers were found through Facebook and HSBC suddenly found there was a co-ordinated force planning to demonstrate at their HQ. The plan was scrapped. Only this week M&S conceded on the big bra premium they were charging.
Those parts of the book which go into computer programme development and the theoretical material could be hard going for some. but these glimpses into different worlds are worth it. You are reading about a major convergence of factors which cannot be reversed, or stopped. With an internet connection we can all be in the crowd and hear the cry, ‘look out, here comes everybody!’. Will it be a really ‘Open Society’?. ( See Karl Poppers book) Is this a new mob rule or a correction of an imbalance of power? Is this a new democracy? One thing seems certain, the new tools of liberty are out of the box and they can never be put back. However, they might be difficult to find should the lights go out.
Dacier
I am beginning to see so much happening that confirms the view of this author that I thought it was worth digging this review out of the archive now I am beginning to see why my daughter put me on Twitter.
This book is essential reading for those involved in politics, pressure or special interest groups. The internet means that small and large groups alike can come together and pursue their collective aims. The bloggers, FaceBookers and MySpacers escape the cell. (See earlier posting).
From business theory the author leads us through to the dynamics of networks, communications between groups and web communities, and the sociology of the web. The developments which have made sites like Wikipedea, My Space and Face Book possible are chronicled. Perhaps the most significant development for the individual computer literate is the new ease of publication which makes this posting possible. Without the net it would have to be placed with a journal willing to take it. The reviewer would not be taken on trust so a good contact, track record or luck would be needed to get it into print. Without factors such as these it would not be read by anyone other than the reviewer. Now, as explained by Shirky, we are all our own publishers at no great expense and no risk of wasting time or the costs of failure. All the conventional routes are avoided. With the aid of one or two connections it might be seen by many. Examples of such escapes into a wider context are given as examples of how things have changed. The earthquake in China, the Tsunami and the London bombings are some of the examples of how the new technology breaks the news so quickly and often gets things done.
The strength this book is found in the way the author manages to bring many different topics together to show how a new way of doing things has emerged. For the outsider the description of how Wikipedea was developed shows the potential of collaborative work taking place well away from the conventional routines of publishing. If you ever wondered why the age of the ‘amateur’ writer is so looked down on by conventional journalists, then you need not wonder long. According to Shirky they are waiting in line for their turn to disappear like the scribes before them.
Examples of the ease of organising to express grievances are also given. To take on a government or a company as an individual will be no more than a stand on principle, which brings no results, unless others take up the cause. But with the ease of joining together the game has changed. The students who had taken out accounts with HSBC were not pleased to hear, at short notice, that their interest free overdraft facility was to be withdrawn. Dispersed customers were found through Facebook and HSBC suddenly found there was a co-ordinated force planning to demonstrate at their HQ. The plan was scrapped. Only this week M&S conceded on the big bra premium they were charging.
Those parts of the book which go into computer programme development and the theoretical material could be hard going for some. but these glimpses into different worlds are worth it. You are reading about a major convergence of factors which cannot be reversed, or stopped. With an internet connection we can all be in the crowd and hear the cry, ‘look out, here comes everybody!’. Will it be a really ‘Open Society’?. ( See Karl Poppers book) Is this a new mob rule or a correction of an imbalance of power? Is this a new democracy? One thing seems certain, the new tools of liberty are out of the box and they can never be put back. However, they might be difficult to find should the lights go out.
Dacier
Monday, 13 July 2009
Citizen Professionals
Ever since I read and reviewed Here Comes Everybody: How Change Happens when People Come Together by Clay Sharky ( see book review in old blogs) I have been looking at events from a new viewpoint. Things usually change because the Government wants the change to go that way but it is not always clear who is prompting the moves for change. Interested parties, expediency, ignorance and intolerance can all underlie a move for change and government by the people becomes government by some of the people for all. Naturally the mechanics of doing it otherwise can become very complicated , but the power and creativity of the inter-net contains the seeds of alternative ways of doing things.
At one end of the spectrum are the events in China and Iran which show that the techno generations can be a bewildering force for the geriatric leaderships to grasp. Blaming foreign governments will not be an excuse which will protect them from a growing anger which sadly can end up with the oppression of a Burma of North Korea, but might just lead to disintegration. It might take fifty years or more but it will come, perhaps sooner as the internet expands and causes a more creative global politics than I can imagine. Like all forces it can go for the good or bad options, but with global survival an increasing issue, lets hope that self-preservation of the species will become a unifying force.
This leads to two small conclusions. With increasing youth unemployment, what does the internet offer. Although some may have reservations as to the standards of Blairite higher education, we are likely to have one of the best qualified unemployed group of young people we have ever seen. My advice is to take your chosen specialism further by going on-line. For writers finding that their are no jobs in journalism, put thought to key board and get started, possibly with others, to make your voice known. For lawyers with no training contract, or job, do the same. Being a participating citizen today needs some kind of legal qualification just to get some sense out of a dilatory local authority or an oppressive wheel clamping gang. Don’t get me started on garages and other so called services industries. More and more advice could be provided though self help groups who not only help but develop their expertise. I have no clear ideas how these could be developed for medics, scientists of various types, let alone accountants, but with so many young people being denied the chance to apply their chosen discipline, its up to them to get together and take up the challenge the internet provides.
The second conclusion thought is that the older generation of politicians in this country don’t seem to appreciate the power of the internet which is waiting to cause their fall. When Gerry Springer appeared on UK TV recently he pointed out that the older generation are disconnected from the techno-generation and that the new politics is gathering speed while the old politicians don’t get it. I would add that they are too busy out shopping for new feathers to line their nests with, rather than log on to these new ‘internet highway thingys’, as some might try to put it. So Happy 20th Anniversary World Wide Web thingy, they aint’t seen nothing yet!
Dacier
At one end of the spectrum are the events in China and Iran which show that the techno generations can be a bewildering force for the geriatric leaderships to grasp. Blaming foreign governments will not be an excuse which will protect them from a growing anger which sadly can end up with the oppression of a Burma of North Korea, but might just lead to disintegration. It might take fifty years or more but it will come, perhaps sooner as the internet expands and causes a more creative global politics than I can imagine. Like all forces it can go for the good or bad options, but with global survival an increasing issue, lets hope that self-preservation of the species will become a unifying force.
This leads to two small conclusions. With increasing youth unemployment, what does the internet offer. Although some may have reservations as to the standards of Blairite higher education, we are likely to have one of the best qualified unemployed group of young people we have ever seen. My advice is to take your chosen specialism further by going on-line. For writers finding that their are no jobs in journalism, put thought to key board and get started, possibly with others, to make your voice known. For lawyers with no training contract, or job, do the same. Being a participating citizen today needs some kind of legal qualification just to get some sense out of a dilatory local authority or an oppressive wheel clamping gang. Don’t get me started on garages and other so called services industries. More and more advice could be provided though self help groups who not only help but develop their expertise. I have no clear ideas how these could be developed for medics, scientists of various types, let alone accountants, but with so many young people being denied the chance to apply their chosen discipline, its up to them to get together and take up the challenge the internet provides.
The second conclusion thought is that the older generation of politicians in this country don’t seem to appreciate the power of the internet which is waiting to cause their fall. When Gerry Springer appeared on UK TV recently he pointed out that the older generation are disconnected from the techno-generation and that the new politics is gathering speed while the old politicians don’t get it. I would add that they are too busy out shopping for new feathers to line their nests with, rather than log on to these new ‘internet highway thingys’, as some might try to put it. So Happy 20th Anniversary World Wide Web thingy, they aint’t seen nothing yet!
Dacier
Monday, 18 May 2009
At Last, a Reason for Everybody to Vote!
Suddenly we are living in interesting times. We are now living through a Rump Parliament, but this time it will not be a Cromwell that storms in and shouts, ’for Gods sake go!’ It will be the electorate.
Some might be thinking of abstaining. This is the option for the sulking fence sitter. My attitude to abstainers is that they haven’t thought it through. Granted, some just can’t be bothered. Some might be intellectual or moral cowards. Some might be anarchists and don’t like the fence. This is nothing new. Fence sitters are well known in political history. Indeed Benjamin Franklin had a name for them, ‘Mugwumps’ these are people with their mug on one side of the fence and their wump on the other. It was such people he probably had in mind when he said, ( I am quoting from memory here), ‘Gentlemen, we must all hang together because, if we do not, we almost certainly will hang separately’. This seems apposite in the present constitutional crisis.
When the going is getting tough we do not want apathy. We need more people involved, not less. We don’t want the tough guys to get going because they will exploit our divisions for their own, sometimes extreme, political agendas. So come the General Election, all political parties must get their acts together. May I suggest they address the main problems confronting us and spare us their favourite lunacies.
Environmentalists should stick to issue which would achieve their environmental aims. Promoting legal brothels and funny fags will not concentrate minds. George Orwell showed in his book, ‘1984’ how a population can be kept down by means of alcohol, pornography, and gambling. We need clear thinking, energy and a strong grip on reality if we are to stop this crisis becoming a disaster. Both main parties should give us a break from trying to deregulate, regulate and privatise in varying degrees and serving us a dog’s dinner which no one wants. Might I suggest that they do a few important things well? Achieve something approaching social justice and avoid exploitation and scapegoating of the weak, inadequate and vulnerable. Make serious headway in environmental renovation. Dealing with freeloaders would give encouragement and hope to ordinary hardworking people who feel they get little reward for their decency. I’ll vote for any honest competent candidate who holds such values Any policy outside those values should be dumped and even those within them should be prioritised and only then put in a manifesto.
In seventeen days time we can vote in the European Elections, so vote. Encourage others to vote. Don’t take the Tebbit route and vote for small parties out of spite. Vote for the party who you see as having the right policies. A big thoughtful turnout would be a better shock than the Tebbit treatment for our political classes and more effective than abstaining. None of us want extremists to dominate any more than we want a Cromwellian outcome. A Peasants Revolt at the ballot box is what we need. The message to the politicians at the EU elections should be a fulfilment of Mr Shirky's prediction, ‘Here comes Everybody!’, so look out, we cant wait for the General Election.(See Book Review below)
Dacier
Some might be thinking of abstaining. This is the option for the sulking fence sitter. My attitude to abstainers is that they haven’t thought it through. Granted, some just can’t be bothered. Some might be intellectual or moral cowards. Some might be anarchists and don’t like the fence. This is nothing new. Fence sitters are well known in political history. Indeed Benjamin Franklin had a name for them, ‘Mugwumps’ these are people with their mug on one side of the fence and their wump on the other. It was such people he probably had in mind when he said, ( I am quoting from memory here), ‘Gentlemen, we must all hang together because, if we do not, we almost certainly will hang separately’. This seems apposite in the present constitutional crisis.
When the going is getting tough we do not want apathy. We need more people involved, not less. We don’t want the tough guys to get going because they will exploit our divisions for their own, sometimes extreme, political agendas. So come the General Election, all political parties must get their acts together. May I suggest they address the main problems confronting us and spare us their favourite lunacies.
Environmentalists should stick to issue which would achieve their environmental aims. Promoting legal brothels and funny fags will not concentrate minds. George Orwell showed in his book, ‘1984’ how a population can be kept down by means of alcohol, pornography, and gambling. We need clear thinking, energy and a strong grip on reality if we are to stop this crisis becoming a disaster. Both main parties should give us a break from trying to deregulate, regulate and privatise in varying degrees and serving us a dog’s dinner which no one wants. Might I suggest that they do a few important things well? Achieve something approaching social justice and avoid exploitation and scapegoating of the weak, inadequate and vulnerable. Make serious headway in environmental renovation. Dealing with freeloaders would give encouragement and hope to ordinary hardworking people who feel they get little reward for their decency. I’ll vote for any honest competent candidate who holds such values Any policy outside those values should be dumped and even those within them should be prioritised and only then put in a manifesto.
In seventeen days time we can vote in the European Elections, so vote. Encourage others to vote. Don’t take the Tebbit route and vote for small parties out of spite. Vote for the party who you see as having the right policies. A big thoughtful turnout would be a better shock than the Tebbit treatment for our political classes and more effective than abstaining. None of us want extremists to dominate any more than we want a Cromwellian outcome. A Peasants Revolt at the ballot box is what we need. The message to the politicians at the EU elections should be a fulfilment of Mr Shirky's prediction, ‘Here comes Everybody!’, so look out, we cant wait for the General Election.(See Book Review below)
Dacier
Saturday, 9 May 2009
Book Review: 'Here Comes Everybody!'
Book Review: 'Here Comes Everybody; How things Change when Everybody Comes Together'by Clay Shirky: Penguin Books [London] 2009 344 pp including acknowledgments, bibliography/notes and index. £9.99.
This book is essential reading for those involved in politics, pressure or special interest groups. The internet means that small and large groups alike can come together and pursue their collective aims. The bloggers, FaceBookers and MySpacers escape the cell. (See earlier posting).
From business theory the author leads us through to the dynamics of networks, communications between groups and web communities, and the sociology of the web. The developments which have made sites like Wikipedea, My Space and Face Book possible are chronicled. Perhaps the most significant development for the individual computer literate is the new ease of publication which makes this posting possible. Without the net it would have to be placed with a journal willing to take it. The reviewer would not be taken on trust so a good contact, track record or luck would be needed to get it into print. Without factors such as these it would not be read by anyone other than the reviewer. Now, as explained by Shirky, we are all our own publishers at no great expense and no risk of wasting time or the costs of failure. All the conventional routes are avoided. With the aid of one or two connections it might be seen by many. Examples of such escapes into a wider context are given as examples of how things have changed. The earthquake in China, the Tsunami and the London bombings are some of the examples of how the new technology breaks the news so quickly and often gets things done.
The strength this book is found in the way the author manages to bring many different topics together to show how a new way of doing things has emerged. For the outsider the description of how Wikipedea was developed shows the potential of collaborative work taking place well away from the conventional routines of publishing. If you ever wondered why the age of the ‘amateur’ writer is so looked down on by conventional journalists, then you need not wonder long. According to Shirky they are waiting in line for their turn to disappear like the scribes before them.
Examples of the ease of organising to express grievances are also given. To take on a government or a company as an individual will be no more than a stand on principle, which brings no results, unless others take up the cause. But with the ease of joining together the game has changed. The students who had taken out accounts with HSBC were not pleased to hear, at short notice, that their interest free overdraft facility was to be withdrawn. Dispersed customers were found through Facebook and HSBC suddenly found there was a co-ordinated force planning to demonstrate at their HQ. The plan was scrapped. Only this week M&S conceded on the big bra premium they were charging.
Those parts of the book which go into computer programme development and the theoretical material could be hard going for some. but these glimpses into different worlds are worth it. You are reading about a major convergence of factors which cannot be reversed, or stopped. With an internet connection we can all be in the crowd and hear the cry, ‘look out, here comes everybody!’. Will it be a really ‘Open Society’?. ( See Karl Poppers book) Is this a new mob rule or a correction of an imbalance of power? Is this a new democracy? One thing seems certain, the new tools of liberty are out of the box and they can never be put back. However, they might be difficult to find should the lights go out.
Dacier
This book is essential reading for those involved in politics, pressure or special interest groups. The internet means that small and large groups alike can come together and pursue their collective aims. The bloggers, FaceBookers and MySpacers escape the cell. (See earlier posting).
From business theory the author leads us through to the dynamics of networks, communications between groups and web communities, and the sociology of the web. The developments which have made sites like Wikipedea, My Space and Face Book possible are chronicled. Perhaps the most significant development for the individual computer literate is the new ease of publication which makes this posting possible. Without the net it would have to be placed with a journal willing to take it. The reviewer would not be taken on trust so a good contact, track record or luck would be needed to get it into print. Without factors such as these it would not be read by anyone other than the reviewer. Now, as explained by Shirky, we are all our own publishers at no great expense and no risk of wasting time or the costs of failure. All the conventional routes are avoided. With the aid of one or two connections it might be seen by many. Examples of such escapes into a wider context are given as examples of how things have changed. The earthquake in China, the Tsunami and the London bombings are some of the examples of how the new technology breaks the news so quickly and often gets things done.
The strength this book is found in the way the author manages to bring many different topics together to show how a new way of doing things has emerged. For the outsider the description of how Wikipedea was developed shows the potential of collaborative work taking place well away from the conventional routines of publishing. If you ever wondered why the age of the ‘amateur’ writer is so looked down on by conventional journalists, then you need not wonder long. According to Shirky they are waiting in line for their turn to disappear like the scribes before them.
Examples of the ease of organising to express grievances are also given. To take on a government or a company as an individual will be no more than a stand on principle, which brings no results, unless others take up the cause. But with the ease of joining together the game has changed. The students who had taken out accounts with HSBC were not pleased to hear, at short notice, that their interest free overdraft facility was to be withdrawn. Dispersed customers were found through Facebook and HSBC suddenly found there was a co-ordinated force planning to demonstrate at their HQ. The plan was scrapped. Only this week M&S conceded on the big bra premium they were charging.
Those parts of the book which go into computer programme development and the theoretical material could be hard going for some. but these glimpses into different worlds are worth it. You are reading about a major convergence of factors which cannot be reversed, or stopped. With an internet connection we can all be in the crowd and hear the cry, ‘look out, here comes everybody!’. Will it be a really ‘Open Society’?. ( See Karl Poppers book) Is this a new mob rule or a correction of an imbalance of power? Is this a new democracy? One thing seems certain, the new tools of liberty are out of the box and they can never be put back. However, they might be difficult to find should the lights go out.
Dacier
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