"Here Comes Everybody" PWR 662

What began as a research effort in the 1990s revolutionized life around the globe. The internet has forever changed the way in which people communicate and collaborate. As Clay Shirky discusses in Here Comes Everybody, the internet has given people the power to organize without organizations.

However, as revolutionary as the internet has been to life as we know it, this is just another example of a culture shift. Equally revolutionary to everyday life was the printing press.

·         Books were available to the masses.

·         Literacy and education became widespread.

·         Professions, namely that of the scribes, faded into history.

The internet parallels the invention of the printing press in what it has done for everyday people in their everyday lives.

·         Information is readily available.

·         Anyone can write and publish their own work.

·         Professions are fading into history.

Professions exist because of a specialized need and skill set. “Professionals become gatekeepers, simultaneously providing and controlling access to information, entertainment, communication, or other ephemeral goods” (Shirky 57).

·         Librarians organize books.

·         Newspaper executives decide front page news.

It is hard to imagine a world without some professions, but jobs are not one of life’s great “truths” (Shirky 59). Professions exist as long as there is a need. When a need disappears, so does the profession. Shirky identifies several that face a potential fade into obscurity (much like the scribes of the 1400s):

·         Professional photographers. Amateurs have access to advanced equipment.

·         Publishers. The internet gives everyone the potential to publish.

·         Newspaper Editors. The masses decide what is news.

The internet has the ability to bring people together to reach a common goal is a premise of Here Comes Everybody. As Shirky says in the video linked below, “The tools we have for coordinating group action are not just widespread, but are now taken advantage enough for granted that the social effects are starting to manifest themselves.” People can now organize effectively without organizations. Groups of individuals who have never met in person are able to effect change or reach a goal.

Shirky points out that not all change is positive and highlights three losses that challenge society because of the internet (209):

·         Jobs (in media, particularly)

·         Current social bargains (journalism is an activity, no longer a profession)

·         Security (terrorists and criminal gangs have a new outlet in which to mobilize)

According to WIRED, "Shirky is one of the handful of people with justifiable claim to the digerati moniker. He's become a consistently prescient voice on networks, social software, and technology's effects on society." Therefore, although Shirky never mentions the term “groundswell” which is defined as a social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions”, he discusses this effect on each of us as individuals and the groups to which we may belong. He discusses the phenomenon of groundswell and how it has impacted institutions, some of which we cannot imagine living without.

Here Comes Everybody was published in 2008. Already, just three years later, the information seems a little outdated in that ideas or theories Shirky proposes or surmises about have happened or are occurring. I would be interested in reading an updated edition. In 2011 we know even better the social impact the internet has made. I would recommend this book to better understand:

·         The impact of the internet on society

·         The phenomenon of groundswell

·         The responsibility we have to ourselves and one another on the Web.

One thing Shirky leaves the reader wondering is where we go from here.

·         He talks about where we’ve been, but where are we going?

·         As the internet brings even more changes to our lives, how will institutions, society,
     and our way of life be affected?

·         What are the implications and ramifications?

·         How do we manage the responsibilities of new freedoms?