Clay Shirky: End of audience blog tasks

1) Looking over the article as a whole, what are some of the positive developments due to the internet highlighted by Bill Thompson?

It allows people to speak freely and have a voice where you can create campaigns etc. 

2) What are the negatives or dangers linked to the development of the internet?

There are many negatives to the web, for example, spamming which can be extremely irritating. The internet allows people to access and post pornography much easier and it also contains illegal trades with drugs etc.

3) What does ‘open technology’ refer to? Do you agree with the idea of ‘open technology’?

It allows all of the different voices in the internet to be heard which will be difficult to control as people can share their opinions without anyone stopping them. 

4) Bill Thompson outlines some of the challenges and questions for the future of the internet. What are they?

• 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 believe that the balance control is very great and even as individuals can in any case voice their views .However, i do think that it needs more control when it comes to the illegal stuff and the dark web as this is unacceptable. There are things like child pornography which shouldn't be allowed on the internet 

Clay Shirky: Here Comes Everybody

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

2) What is the question facing the newspaper industry now the internet has created a “new ecosystem”?

 " How will people get their news in the future?" this is the question that will be asked in the fu

3) What is ‘mass amateurisation’?

Mass amateurisation is the capabilities that new forms of media have given to non-professionals and the ways in which those non-professionals have applied those capabilities to solve problems 

4) 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’?

5) 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?

Clay Shirky suggests that we are in a state of chaos where social effects are behind technological changesn as everythingis becoming more evolved as there's a constant change. 

6) Shirky says that “anyone can be a publisher… [and] anyone can be a journalist”. What does this mean and why is it important?

This refers to citizen journalism where everyone is able to report and publish information due to the change in technology where we have smart phones which can record at anytime and the internet.

7) 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?

8) Why is photography a good example of ‘mass amateurisation’?

Instagram allows people who aren't experts in photography  to publish photos using their smartphone at any time due to convenience of instagram. 

9) 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 believe that it is a positive thing as the internet have allowed industries to develop and grow which has allowed us to access information at any given moment. We also are able to do things online more freely.