1) Looking over the article as a whole, what are some of the positive developments due to the internet highlighted by Bill Thompson?
2) What are the negatives or dangers linked to the development of the internet?
Open technology refers to the concept of allowing all of the different voices on the internet to be heard. Also refers to the idea of digital content being extremely difficult to control because it could be manipulated and/or altered in some way before it reaches the consumer.
4) Bill Thompson outlines some of the challenges and questions for the future of the internet. What are they?
Challenges and questions mainly focus on this concept of open technology:
5) Where do you stand on the use and regulation of the internet? Should there be more control or more openness? Why?
I think that the internet has a good balance of openness and control. The openness of the internet allows users to have a free/liminal space to voice their opinions and express themselves on different topics, whilst the control we have now ensured that there are guidelines that need to be followed. For example, guidelines on social media pages like Twitter mean that overly offensive/extremist comments can be filtered to ensure that the internet remains both safe and as free as possible. If more restrictions were introduced then I think the freedom that everyone likes about the internet wouldn't be at the same level. It would prove to be more homogeneous as everyone would aim to post similar things in order to stay within the guidelines.
Clay Shirky: Here Comes Everybody
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 is something that exists to solve a hard problem - typically one that requires some form of specialisation. (For example a race car driver requires specialised training in order to ensure that he/she can drive the car safely and at speed).
In the newspaper industry, this idea of professionalism can be applied to the concept of having a "good journalist." Journalists traditionally needed to be trained in order to know how to seek out newsworthy stories, and how to do so quickly.
2) What is the question facing the newspaper industry now the internet has created a “new ecosystem”?
As a result of the development of the internet and its "new ecosystem", the newspaper industry now ask different questions regarding publishing. The questions have changed from "why publish this?" to "why not?" The internet has promoted this concept of mass amateurisation and therefore, there seems to be less focus on the quality of the news - mainly the quantity. Another question is "what happens when there's nothing unique about publishing anymore because users can do it for themselves?"
3) Why did Trent Lott’s speech in 2002 become news?
Lott's speech in 2002 became news because of the controversy of his comment. He more or less pledged allegiance with Thurmond - a man known for his republican views. Therefore, when President Bush and many other politicians confronted Lott about his comments that "if the rest of the country had followed [their] lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems." He demeaned the efforts of the current president and politicians who had been working so hard over the years.
4) What is ‘mass amateurisation’?
The growth in the amount of self-published content found on the internet. The idea of everyone being able to produce and publish content as well as consume it.
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 suggestion links to the concept of fake news because it implies that if one news story is consistently repeated throughout the media, then it is more likely to be repeated. Frequency acts as a determinant as to whether something is believed. For example, if nearly all the major newspapers report on climate change being a lie, then people will be more likely to believe them over a small group of professionals saying otherwise.
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 an internet revolution because the internet enables us to encourage significant changes. On the other hand, this can also be viewed as chaos because the changes that come about as a result of the internet cannot always be controlled/are not always changes that we welcome.
7) Shirky says that “anyone can be a publisher… [and] anyone can be a journalist”. What does this mean and why is it important?
It means that audiences are no longer just the people that consume/watch the content but they are now able to create it too. This also means that people do not need to be trained to a high standard in order to create news stories. This is important as it hints at the fact that the quality of news may decrease as a result of audiences having less professional skills/know-how when it comes to compiling news stories etc.
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 changes brought about due to the Gutenberg/Printing Press Revolution created great anxiety amongst those who prided themselves on their work/lives as scribes. Because a quicker, more efficient method of printing words in masses was introduced, it meant that these scribes were no longer needed. Being a scribe was a respectable job because you needed a great deal of literacy in order to do so. Therefore, when the job of a scribe could be done by anyone operating the newspaper, this acted as a form of intellectual chaos.
Recent examples of political chaos - people agreeing with different political parties despite not truly knowing what they mean.
9) Why is photography a good example of ‘mass amateurisation’?
Traditionally, photography required a professional camera in order to produce high quality photographs. However, due to the developments in technology, this is no longer needed. People can simply take professional, high quality pictures on their phone without having to spend hundreds on a digital camera. Additionally, dark rooms are no longer needed to develop photographs - they can just be uploaded and edited using a computer/device.
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 that this era of mass amateurisation is a good thing to some extent. This is because it means that people can now add to the media and really develop their own voice by contributing to the news in their own ways. This is a positive thing because it increases the range of opinions and perceptions shared in the media; thus, enabling the media to remain diverse rather than homogeneous.
On the other hand, it may also be a negative thing because it means that the quality of news is also decreasing due to the lack of professionalism of amateur journalists. Also, it means that those attempting to find professions in the newspaper/journalism industry have more difficulties in doing so because professionally trained journalists are no longer needed.
- Allows people to exchange information a lot easier/more efficiently
- Freedom of speech, assembly and the freedom of the press.
- Connects us to other people
- Great source of information
- Can be used to create political attention/awareness on different campaigns
2) What are the negatives or dangers linked to the development of the internet?
- Cyberbullying and abusive comments
- Illegal images/pornography
- Extremists and radicals can use the internet to try and influence people in a negative way
Open technology refers to the concept of allowing all of the different voices on the internet to be heard. Also refers to the idea of digital content being extremely difficult to control because it could be manipulated and/or altered in some way before it reaches the consumer.
4) Bill Thompson outlines some of the challenges and questions for the future of the internet. What are they?
Challenges and questions mainly focus on this concept of open technology:
- Does open technology mean that free software can be used, changed and redistributed without payment or permission?
- Does this mean that the internet allows computers to exchange data, even though the network doesn't actually understand the meaning of what is being exchanged?
5) Where do you stand on the use and regulation of the internet? Should there be more control or more openness? Why?
I think that the internet has a good balance of openness and control. The openness of the internet allows users to have a free/liminal space to voice their opinions and express themselves on different topics, whilst the control we have now ensured that there are guidelines that need to be followed. For example, guidelines on social media pages like Twitter mean that overly offensive/extremist comments can be filtered to ensure that the internet remains both safe and as free as possible. If more restrictions were introduced then I think the freedom that everyone likes about the internet wouldn't be at the same level. It would prove to be more homogeneous as everyone would aim to post similar things in order to stay within the guidelines.
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 is something that exists to solve a hard problem - typically one that requires some form of specialisation. (For example a race car driver requires specialised training in order to ensure that he/she can drive the car safely and at speed).
In the newspaper industry, this idea of professionalism can be applied to the concept of having a "good journalist." Journalists traditionally needed to be trained in order to know how to seek out newsworthy stories, and how to do so quickly.
2) What is the question facing the newspaper industry now the internet has created a “new ecosystem”?
As a result of the development of the internet and its "new ecosystem", the newspaper industry now ask different questions regarding publishing. The questions have changed from "why publish this?" to "why not?" The internet has promoted this concept of mass amateurisation and therefore, there seems to be less focus on the quality of the news - mainly the quantity. Another question is "what happens when there's nothing unique about publishing anymore because users can do it for themselves?"
3) Why did Trent Lott’s speech in 2002 become news?
Lott's speech in 2002 became news because of the controversy of his comment. He more or less pledged allegiance with Thurmond - a man known for his republican views. Therefore, when President Bush and many other politicians confronted Lott about his comments that "if the rest of the country had followed [their] lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems." He demeaned the efforts of the current president and politicians who had been working so hard over the years.
4) What is ‘mass amateurisation’?
The growth in the amount of self-published content found on the internet. The idea of everyone being able to produce and publish content as well as consume it.
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 suggestion links to the concept of fake news because it implies that if one news story is consistently repeated throughout the media, then it is more likely to be repeated. Frequency acts as a determinant as to whether something is believed. For example, if nearly all the major newspapers report on climate change being a lie, then people will be more likely to believe them over a small group of professionals saying otherwise.
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 an internet revolution because the internet enables us to encourage significant changes. On the other hand, this can also be viewed as chaos because the changes that come about as a result of the internet cannot always be controlled/are not always changes that we welcome.
7) Shirky says that “anyone can be a publisher… [and] anyone can be a journalist”. What does this mean and why is it important?
It means that audiences are no longer just the people that consume/watch the content but they are now able to create it too. This also means that people do not need to be trained to a high standard in order to create news stories. This is important as it hints at the fact that the quality of news may decrease as a result of audiences having less professional skills/know-how when it comes to compiling news stories etc.
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 changes brought about due to the Gutenberg/Printing Press Revolution created great anxiety amongst those who prided themselves on their work/lives as scribes. Because a quicker, more efficient method of printing words in masses was introduced, it meant that these scribes were no longer needed. Being a scribe was a respectable job because you needed a great deal of literacy in order to do so. Therefore, when the job of a scribe could be done by anyone operating the newspaper, this acted as a form of intellectual chaos.
Recent examples of political chaos - people agreeing with different political parties despite not truly knowing what they mean.
9) Why is photography a good example of ‘mass amateurisation’?
Traditionally, photography required a professional camera in order to produce high quality photographs. However, due to the developments in technology, this is no longer needed. People can simply take professional, high quality pictures on their phone without having to spend hundreds on a digital camera. Additionally, dark rooms are no longer needed to develop photographs - they can just be uploaded and edited using a computer/device.
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 that this era of mass amateurisation is a good thing to some extent. This is because it means that people can now add to the media and really develop their own voice by contributing to the news in their own ways. This is a positive thing because it increases the range of opinions and perceptions shared in the media; thus, enabling the media to remain diverse rather than homogeneous.
On the other hand, it may also be a negative thing because it means that the quality of news is also decreasing due to the lack of professionalism of amateur journalists. Also, it means that those attempting to find professions in the newspaper/journalism industry have more difficulties in doing so because professionally trained journalists are no longer needed.
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