“[B]ecause the minimum costs of being an organization in the first place are relatively high, certain activities may have some value but not enough to make them worth pursuing in any organized way. New social tools are altering this equation by lowering the costs of coordinating group action.” TechnologySocietyInternetOrganization Book:Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations Source: Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations
“[F]rom now on, the act of creating and circulating evidence of wrongdoing to more than a few people, even if they all work together, will be seen as a delayed but public act.” ResponsibilitySocietyInternet Book:Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations Source: Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations
“It is possible to think that the Internet will be a net positive for society while admitting that there are significant downsides - after all, it's not a revolution if nobody loses.” IfsThinkingLosesRevolutionInternetSignificantAdmitting Author:Clay Shirky
“The whole, 'Is the internet a good thing or a bad thing'? We're done with that. It's just a thing. How to maximise its civic value, its public good - that's the really big challenge.” DoneWholeBigsValuesChallengesInternetGood ThingsBad ThingsCivicsPublic GoodBig Challenges Author:Clay Shirky
“The historic role of the consumer has been nothing more than a giant maw at the end of the mass media's long conveyer belt, the all-absorbing Yin to the mass media's all-producing Yang....In the age of the internet, no one is a passive consumer anymore because everyone is a media outlet.” LongHas BeensEndsAgeCultureRolesTechnologyMediaInternetMassMarketingConsumersGiantsPassiveHistoricBeltsOutletsAbsorbingMass MediaYang Author:Clay Shirky
“It did not take long after the rise of the commercial printing press before someone figured out that erotic novels were a good idea. ... It took people another 150 years to even think of the scientific journal.” PeopleThinkingYearsLongIdeasInspirationMotivationNovelInternetPressesGood IdeasJournalEroticPrintingPrinting Press Author:Clay Shirky
“When you make the claim that something on the Internet is going to be good for democracy, you often [hear], 'Are you talking about the thing with the singing cats?'” TalkingDemocracyInternetSingingCatClaimsBe Good Author:Clay Shirky
“We are in a world where most American citizens over the age of 12 share things with each other online.” WorldAgeShareInternetCitizensOnlineAmerican Citizens Author:Clay Shirky
“The threat [of the U.S. bills SOPA and PIPA] is the inversion of the burden of proof, where we suddenly are all treated like thieves at every moment we're given the freedom to create, to produce or to share.” MomentsGivenShareProduceInternetBillsThreatBurdenProofTreatedThievesInversionsBurden Of Proof Author:Clay Shirky
“The more ideas there are in circulation, the more ideas there are for any individual to disagree with. More media always means more arguing.” MeanIdeasIndividualMediaInternetArguingDisagreeCirculation Author:Clay Shirky
“Prior to the internet, the last technology that had any real effect on the way people sat down and talked together was the table” PeopleWayRealTogetherLastsTechnologyEffectsInternetDown AndTablesSatConnecting Author:Clay Shirky
“The future presented by the internet is the mass amateurization of publishing and a switch from 'Why publish this?' to 'Why not?” InternetMassWhy NotPublishingPublish Author:Clay Shirky
