Clay Shirky's recent lecture on social networking and its effects on mass-media showcases why the news landscape is changing, how technology is accelerating that change, and what that means for who he calls, "anyone who has a message." With supporting anecdotes, including last year's U.S. Presidential campaign and amateur reporting of the tragic Chinese earthquakes, Shirky illuminates how the likes of Facebook, Twitter, and cell-phone technology can make anyone part of the "global conversation." Shirky believes that these innovations have placed us in a revolution on par with the ascension of moveable type.
While I agree with many of Shirky's points, especially the new dynamic in which media consumers have also become its producers; I find it hard not to be pessimistic about the future overall quality of journalism. Just because most of us have the ability to relay a message to countless others, doesn't mean that that message will have any substance or relevance. Shirky's prophecy of a "revolution" is also pre-mature in my estimation. Social networking is still in its infancy, and like other fads, could lose its novelty over time. Equating a website that allows it's users to self-promote and be their own paparazzi (see the self-picture take pose) with a reliable news source seems reckless. If reading Facebook statuses becomes an acceptable means to staying informed, then we're likely to be on par with "yellow journalism" of the past.
Portions of the lecture are available at:
http://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_how_cellphones_twitter_facebook_can_make_history.html
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2 comments:
You are absolutely correct about the dangers of having an unlimited number of information providers. However, there is a thought that we (consumers) will help decide who will survive and who will not: meaning, if a blogger is good we will continue to return; if we learn a blogger is full of it, spouting untruths, we will not. Can consumers regulate information providers?
I really hate that anyone with a camera phone can become a photojournalist.Likewise it annoys me that bloggers are considered to be real journalist. Although these things irritate students of journalism, it is our job to make sure that we do reproduce the errors of journalist before us by not embracing technology. We have to be faster than the average person with the a cell phone. As journalist, we often forget that we have the same capabiliities as average people. we just need to realize that!
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