TED talk by Clay Shirky (@cshirky) on HOW SOCIAL MEDIA CAN CHANGE HISTORY
‘the historical moment our generation has been living through is the largest increase in expressive capability in human history’
communication ‘revolutions’ throughout history:
1. printing press 1400s gave us the 1-to-many pattern
2. telegraph then telephone several hundred yrs ago gave us 1-to-1 pattern (conversational media)
3. recorded media 150yrs ago gave us 1-to-many pattern
4. radio and TV 100yrs ago gave a boost in delivery of messages of a 1-to-many pattern
5. NOW!!! —» the social internet gives us many-to-many pattern of media reception + creation + hyper-delivery for the first time, EVER!
‘in a world where media is global, social, ubiquitous and cheap;
in a world of media where the former audience is increasingly full participants;
in this world, media is less and less often about crafting a single message to be consumed by individuals and it is more and more often a way of creating an environment for convening and supporting groups. Thus, the choice we now face is: how to make the best use of this medium, even if it means changing the way we’ve always done it.’
