1) Looking over the article as a whole, what are some of the positive developments due to the internet highlighted by Bill Thompson?
- Accessibility to reach 'hundreds and thousands of other computer users around the world'
- Innovation use to create software like social media
- It can be seen as 'a tool for active citizenship, free expression and social justice'
- The internet does not care about what data is being filed through meaning it is 'impossible to stop spam, abuse or the trading of images of child abuse'
- The internet can be used for 'oppression, surveillance, control and repression'
- In extreme cases, hidden browsers are able to be made to complete illegal doings through the web anonymously. EG. the dark web.
4) Bill Thompson outlines some of the challenges and questions for the future of the internet. What are they?
- There is no real concern about the possibilities the internet could bring to people all around the world
- Regulation issues of the internet
- 'what could the internet do for you and your friends, and what could you make it do?'
2) What is the question facing the newspaper industry now the internet has created a “new ecosystem”?
3) Why did Trent Lott’s speech in 2002 become news?
4) What is ‘mass amateurisation’?
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’?
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?
7) Shirky says that “anyone can be a publisher… [and] anyone can be a journalist”. What does this mean and why is it important?
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?
9) Why is photography a good example of ‘mass amateurisation’?
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?
The idea that everything on the internet should be 'open' to everyone without any special care to certain individuals. I believe that certain features should be open to everyone such as YouTube premium since it enables users to download music or videos straight from YouTube. Since people don't want to pay for it, they set up sites that enable people to download them for free which is in fact against the law. On the other hand, there are certain websites I believe should not be open for things like editing. These are information sites that allow the users to be able to learn about something. Eg, newspaper websites, magazine websites, Wikipedia etc.
I think that the internet should definitely be regulated in some sort of way in order to stop very sensitive or even illegal content from going up all over the internet. I think that there should be more control over the actual source of the website but keep the idea of freedom on speech through the internet which can allow everyone to voice their opinions. They should keep data of any action over the internet but at the same time keep it confidential to themselves as a company.
Clay Shirky - Here comes everybody:
1) How does Shirky define a ‘profession’ and why does it apply to the traditional newspaper industry?
Something that requires some sort of specialisation in order to achieve the issue. In the newspaper industry, workers must be familiar with how the industry works in order to excel in it.
Questions regarding the future of print publishing. Also question about what newspapers can do in order to differentiate themselves from any other person who can now write anything they want online due to the internet being the 'new ecosystem'.
Trent Lott spoke about his supportive nature to a man named Thurmond who expressed his republican views which caused many controversy.
The growing population of content being written and put online by anyone that has access to the internet.
When a certain piece of information is put online over and over again, it becomes increasingly harder for audiences to see the difference between real news and fake news since audiences see one idea so many times but another also so many times and continuedly.
Clay Shirky said that 'Social effects lag behind technological ones by decades'. He also suggests that we must go though a number of chaotic periods before being able to reach a revolution.
Clay Shirky believes that we as audiences are no longer passive readers and choose to start our own content rather than just take in and accept everything that is being thrown at us.
Scribes in the 1400's being aware of the fact that new printing methods were developing from individuals such as Gutenberg. With this knowledge, they grew scared of losing heir jobs which is exactly what happened as ew methods were put to use and scribes lost their jobs. An example from recent times would be the idea of 'fake news' and how passive modern day audiences are by just accepting whatever they see in the media without question.
In todays world, anyone can just take out their phone and take a picture of whatever it may be. Back then, pictures were taken by professionals and taken to the dark room to print out etc. Now people just take selfies and can store them in the same device it was taken in. It has ruined the idea of how niche taking photos were.
I believe that the idea of 'mass amateurisation' is a positive thing for todays audiences. When people start to try new thigs, it allows them to tell themselves what they enjoy and find out what they're good at. This can boost ones confidence and help them gain experience for the future. Compared to the past where certain thigs were only done by professionals, now day it gives us the freedom to go after things we truly enjoy doing.
