"Everybody is a media outlet"

(SOCS300)

I've been reading Clay Shirky's book:  Here Comes Everybody, in learning more about the internet, social media and it's capacities.  Shirky has some amazing, enlightening ideas about the internet, the communities it builds, as well as the work and content it creates.  It varies and is in a state of constant change.  It is an environment where "everybody is a media outlet." (Shirky, 55).  He asserts: 

"Our social tools remove older obstacles to public expression, and thus remove the bottlenecks that characterized mass media.  The result is the mass amateurization of efforts previously reserved for media professionals." (Shirky, 55)

I think that these "radical changes in the overall ecosystem of information (Shirky, 56), really speaks to the power of technology, and that with time its changes become exponentially faster.  In moving from print media, to radio, t.v., video and evolving into various forms of self publishing on the internet.  Keeping up with constant changes in technology and the market share of its various products is key to challenge and to stay competitive.  In the past, the mass media was able to build up hype or criticisms of products as a way of competing, whereas now it is the general public who collaborate, and share their "collective intelligence" to make decisions and share opinions, information and ideas and what works and what doesn't.  Effectively web 2.0 has empowered us, the general public and self-forming communities, with the individual voice.  At least to those who are willing to listen, and more importantly, to those with a shared interest.

As our media choices continue to develop and diversify, we look more into the content and purpose for using the media - whether it's reading the newspaper, watching the news, or following specialized topics and interests in blogs.  

Copyrights is an issue that's often debated, even overlooked (by its impracticality).  The issue with copyrighting is that the content is much more open and available for users to borrow, view and utilize.  Also there isn't much basis for a claim, if an author "borrows" an image in a personal, end-use or educational context - relevant claims only arise when the image or content copied is used for profit.  It's importance lies mainly in protecting claim to original ideas, and used as a legal tool for maintaining fair competition (as suggested by Cory Doctorow's article).  The other issue with copyright is that applying intellectual property rights takes time.. time to process the request, to have it approved, and for a claim to be made if valid.  Ultimately is seems most effective at the corporate, multinational level, especially with commercial patents.  Looking at the issue on a deeper level, technology moves so much faster than regulation.  While learning applications and tools we can all take advantage of and use, the experience can often be short lived, as we move on quickly to advanced or alternative versions.  And so, how long will such content effectively exist, or potentially cause harm, and to what extent?

Within the realm of creative works/projects, the key lies in being selective of the work you choose to 'expose' or share online, especially with the timing of making your work public.  For example, it would be most advantageous to share work once it is fully developed, rather than sharing ideas throughout the process.  Certainly it is a matter of choice.

On the other hand, in terms of mass amateurization, a whole new world has opened up enabling individual users to be more creative, and in essence practice freedom of speech.  The web allows us to self-publish photos, information, blogs, articles and other forms of content on an wide platform that reaches the globe.  The author's quality, network, content and subscribers of this content, would seemingly impact the success of it.. does the work reach a wide audience, is it followed by many users, is it readable, popular, how long will it last and so forth.  Within this capacity of mass amateurization, what measures success and how important is it?  I say it's up to the individual.