Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #452 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-28
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

Steven Johnson, author of Everything Bad Is Good for You and Emergence
'Anyone interested in the vitality and influence of groups of human beings needs to read this.'

Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine and author of The Long Tail
'delightfully readable ...Highly recommended'

Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail
'How do trends emerge and opinions form? This delightfully readable book will change the way you think. Highly recommended'

Customer Reviews

Interesting review of the affect of the internet
but doesn't dwell on the dark side..
Clay Shirky is primarily interested in the sociological effects of the internet and other networking tools (mobile phones etc.), or how people use them and are affected by them.

In essence his thesis is that the costs of networking have collapsed and allowed us to try before you buy (or publish then filter as he puts it rather than the other way round as was the case).
In the past only companies had the resources to publish in any meaningful way, and they had to weigh up the cost of trying things and had to play safe as a consequence. He's broadly correct on the positive way that the internet has enabled Linux, wikipedia and other social networking sites (facebook, stay at home mums etc.) to exist where they couldn't have before, but he doesn't address the fact that there is a negative side to all of this - cyberbullying being a classic example. Now we're all networked the pursuit of the mob is harder to escape, he also doesn't address online vigilantism - PC Pro's columnist Dick Pountain has complained about articles being deleted by rogue groups of over-vigilant unknowledgeable users.

His book reads very well and is full of well considered stories which pull you through, it's worth a read for anyone who like 'The future just happened' or the Long tail. In some ways this book is the same central insight as the Long Tail - collapsing online costs allow more experimentation and a more ad hoc arrangement of interested people. They both focus on the power law that allows the tail effects to be meaningful rather than ignored.

Antidote to Cult of the Amateur
This is one of the best books I have read recently (counting books fact and fiction), it is extremely well written and obvious care was taken to make it flow from beginning to end. Shirky has an extensive Bibliography, but instead of intruding into the text it is collected at the back with chapter and page links and short explanations. There are many excellent points made and I have cited them to friends and colleagues as I read the book. I guess the fact that stays most with me is the explanation of Participation Imbalance, for example many people use Wikipedia but few contribute, of those who contribute many only contribute once, but the small percentage who contribute a lot and care for the quality is enough for sustainability.

I see this as an antidote for Keen's; "Cult of the Amateur". Keen want the reader to feel sorry for professions that were lost to technological advances, while Shirky shows that such change has happened many times in the past, and points out changes such as writing going from a profession to an everyday skill.

The dissertation that never was...
I am a Computer Science student, but originally I studied Communication. When I started my communication degree I knew I would write my dissertation on how the internet has affected communication, but I changed degree and instead built a facebook application. This book has taken my two big passions in life and combined them in a way that I continually attempt to, and in a much more eloquent style than I could ever achieve.
Clay continually uses examples that for anyone who uses web resources on a daily basis can relate to. He takes these examples and highlights not only the positives that they have generated, but their limitations too. His insight into what we previously believed to be technological implications shows us that indeed they are not technological, but human social limitations. Coupled with the depth of compassion towards humans, Clay continually reminds me that humans are essentially good but require the tools to be able to put that goodness into practice.
My favourite part is his comparison of the internet and web to the printing press pushing aside the scribes. I truly believe that we're watching the birth of a new cultural revolution, Clay sees it and the examples I have taken away from his writing allow me to show the changes to my friends and family that otherwise lay blind to it.
If you are even slightly interested in the web, communication, or modern culture then you must read this book. Thanks Clay for writing such an insightful and positive guide to this culture's birth.