HERE COMES EVERYBODY

HERE COMES EVERYBODY

CLAY SHIRKY

Here comes everybody! You bet -- that is exactly what is happening! Well OK not EVERYBODY. Not everybody has the economic privilege of having access to social media. But certainly the access to global events (as they occur) has changed dramatically in the last two decades. The video clip we watched in class that stated **people read about an earthquake in their area 30 seconds before they felt it** illustrates this point as does Shirky's book. I was particularly enthralled by the story about the earthquake in China. The earthquake hit China's Sichuan province in May of 2008. The big lesson from the Sichuan quake is that there is never just one big lesson. “Truly complex events have complex causes and complex ramifications (Shirky, 298). In this instance social media created the possibility of global assistance in terms of providing medical aid and spiritual support.

The fact that everybody can be connected via media and those who are in the midst of tremendous devastation can be assisted by their fellow man is remarkable. In this instance (and many like it) social media was literally life saving.

Another part of this story that resonated with me was the illustration that social media can dramatically shift the POWER balance in governing bodies. In many countries people are shut off nearly entirely from freedom of choice in terms of sources of information. As much as we (as Americans) complain about media bias --- we have so many options in how we receive NEWS. The MEDIA being in the hands of the citizens not the government in the instance of this natural disaster in China changed the cultural and political landscape of a country that had been strictly regulated.

I agree with Shirky’s statement ---- “As always social tools don't create motivations so much as amplify existing ones (294).” Information is POWER and I don’t think it should be limited to an elite few in ANY country. This story made me recognize that education (in small and large ways) can now reach masses of people who were previously “in the dark.”

I guess HERE COMES EVERYBODY now includes me . . .