GANG!

[crowgirl13]

You must, MUST check out this article.

Gin, Television and Social Surplus by Clay Shirky

Then come back so we can talk about taking over the world the article. :D

Comments

[bodhifox]

But even just common sense should indicate that humans always had a certain amount of time on their hands that was free in the sense that it was not filled with survival activities. If that's not true, who built Stonehenge? Who wrote the Homeric Sagas? The Bible? Greek tragedies? Add to that all the lullabye singing, cushion embroidering, bead weaving, whittling, scrawling and dancin that's part of even the most rudimentary human culture and you quickly see that we are a participating and sharing species, and have been so for tens of thousands of years at least.

That was from the comments.

Goes to show, internet participation and organization is just another mask for the dance. Doesn't mean it isn't worthwhile, just means it isn't the embodiment of some new phenomena or cultural energy.

[crowgirl13]

The things that intrigue me about this article are twofold [at the very least]- 1)it clearly marks out the problems of media, specifically TV and 2)it shows some how the internet is different. And it *is* a new phenomena, in the sense that it's a different technology and how it's used/ how it effects social interaction. Like it's said elsewhere - not better or worse, just a different thing, and I'm glad the idea is being presented.

[sorry - I'm slightly distracted...more in a bit]

[lydia_petze]

I must have read part of this or possibly seen it quoted before, because I'd heard the Wikipedia analogy. But what an awesome piece of writing. One thing he doesn't mention, probably because it's not the thrust of his argument or maybe he's just not involved - what have fans been doing for years? Even before the internet? Producing. Interacting. Getting involved. The media being produced didn't satisfy fans, so they produced their own variations. I am not surprised at all that the amount of fanwork and fan participation has exploded along with internet use - one wonders how many people missed out before.

Also - what bodhifox said. Excellent point. Not many people have ever existed on a 100% subsistence-level. If they had, culture would be non-existent.