Kids Table

After reading a few chapters of Clay Shirky’s “Cognitive Surplus, creativity and generosity in a connected age,” I came to a conclusion, many parents and members of generation X simply cannot grasp the fact that the world is changing. Their children or younger siblings are growing up in a world that is completely different from their own. The reason for this is obviously the digital revolution and increasing level of connectivity between people that exists today.  Members of generation X were treated like children while generation Y has the ability to act like an adult.

                Generation X’ers grew up in a generation where the primary methods of receiving information came in three forms being television, print and radio. Members of generation Y face a completely different reality; we have the internet, which can arguably be considered one of the greatest tools that has ever been available to the finger tips of mankind.  As a result of this, “For the first time in the history of television, some cohorts of young people are watching TV less than their elders” (Shirky 11). This is understandable because now kids have another means of entertainment where they can consistently access the information that they want and that they deem to be important. Many members of generation X don’t quite have this act down yet; they are use to the old gate keeping process where they are simply told what is important instead of seeking out what interests them.

                I believe that generation X is the last generation that will be subjected to this horrible reality that has taken hundreds of years to evolve. This process was started by Gutenberg and he could actually be blamed for this with his invention of the printing press. This unleashed books to everyone at an affordable price so they could somewhat seek out the knowledge that they desired. Eventually the technology evolved to make books even cheaper but they hit another snag and ran into several “Walled gardens” that prevented them from being able to fully join the conversations that the books respective authors were trying to create. These barriers came with publishers and individuals who were appointed to positions to judge what is important and what is worth publishing in books and newspapers (Gate Keepers). Later down the road these barriers remained in place and also evolved with the invention of radio and television, fast forward to the 90’s and this model was destroyed.

Generation Y’s great liberator was the internet; it provided anyone and everyone with a forum where they could freely voice their opinion without anyone policing or enforcing. The internet eventually evolved to web 2.0 which allows open conversation between all about anything.  With this tool our generation is encouraged to communicate and collaborate through the existing infrastructure of web 1.0. 

Generation Y is encouraged to have an opinion, the atomization of social life removed generation X from feeling like they could participate in conversation. “The atomization of social life in the twentieth century left us so far removed from participatory culture that when it came back we needed the phrase ‘ participatory culture’ to describe it ”(Shirky 19). Technology gave us a means to do this on a massive scale, before we would primarily speak to members in our own circles and now we can do it on a larger scale. The recipients of media can no longer be labeled as silent consumers.  Generation Y now has the access to satisfy the two primary purposes of media, being accessibility and permanence. “Accessibility means that a number of others can read what a given person writes and permanence refers to the longevity of a given bit of writing” (Shirky 34).  Obviously this lack of a barrier creates more freedom for those willing to publish but it also has the ability to lowers the standards of what people consider good writing.  Gutenberg can also be blamed for this, “Before Gutenberg, the average book was a masterpiece. After Gutenberg, people got throwaway erotic novels, dull travelogues, and hagiographies of the landed gentry of interest to no one today but a handful of historians. The great tension in media has always been that freedom and quality are conflicting goals.” (Shirky 46-47).   The barrier in Gutenberg’s time prevented risks from being taken on potentially good novels and books, because one person deemed the concept unworthy.  For generation Y this doesn’t exist which obviously has lead to a mass amount of garbage being on the internet, the modern day equivalent of this is essentially a blog. 

The easier it is to publish thoughts and ideas the more average those thoughts and ideas become, which is why generation X had no problem with gate keepers. Xers don’t know how to search for information of value on their own, the abundance of knowledge, writing and ideas is overwhelming to most, but generation Y does. Previously we treasured many ideas because they came few and far between. This didn’t necessarily mean they were ideas or books of high quality, but we deemed them worthy of praise because we didn’t have as much to compare them too. The removal of the gate keepers has allowed more ideas, books, discussions whatever you want to call it to form. The definition of quality is changing because we now have more to compare with, which has the ability of inspiring better work, if you know how to find it. Xer’s need to be provided with knowledge, while Y knows how to find it, generation X’s concept of media was nothing more than a few power networks on TV in addition to a few power newspapers and the radio. This model has completely changed w the internet.

Generation Y has discovered how to harness the power of the internet and our cognitive surplus, “ The harnessing of our cognitive surplus allows people to behave in increasingly generous, public and social ways, relative to their old status as consumers and couch potatoes” (Shirky 62). Generation X existed as a child of the media, who was used to being treated like a child and was, forced to sit at the kids table. They had to eat whatever their parents (newspapers) told them to, listen to whatever their parents said (radio) and watch (television) whatever their parents wanted them to. Generation Y sits with the adults and actively has the ability to shape and change the world. 

Taking on the system

Attempting to get my hands on Markos Moulitsas Zuniga’s book “Taking on the System” was partially my own method of taking on a system. The system that I had taken on was the Lehigh University Bookstore.

To put it lightly they hit me with the okie doke, they found a way to disallow me to return books that I had purchased the day before. To add insult to injury the day after my purchase my professor informed me that we didn’t even need the two books.  The greatest part about this whole situation is that the clear cut genius who worked at the register completely failed to mention that they didn’t have a return policy. Since this instance I told myself that I would never purchase a book from the Lehigh bookstore ever again.

Taking advantage of the fact that I was a member of the first real generation that had the potential to communicate with mass amounts of people without any kind of gate keeper, I immediately went to twitter. Yes, I know I speak entirely too much about twitter in my posts but I feel like it is such a great example for so many different things.

With a string of angry tweets I attempted to inform others of the horrible experience that I had with the bookstore. I received a few reply and re-tweets, however ultimately my warning and issue was relatively unheard. The span of my communication was not anywhere near as far as I thought it would be. It also didn’t surprise me very much either considering I only had about 250 people following me at the time.  

This was almost a text book example of “Taking on the System’s” foundational rule, “Without the media little can be accomplished”. If you cannot influence the flow of information, you cannot affect change on any substantial scale.” Obviously this is not a life and death type issue but the principle remains the same. People now have the ability to openly and honestly express their opinions in many different ways without requiring approval from anyone, and more importantly without being censored by any type of gatekeeper. Amateurs can start a revolution, and have in a few different countries.  

Several social revolutions have been spurred by Twitter and amateur voices seeking a place to be heard. The most notable one to date would be the recent revolution in Tunisia, where citizens used the site to speak out on the political unrest that was occurring within the country. The method was actually so affected that the government attempted to block citizen’s internet access. It also spurred another revolution in Egypt, where journalists posted articles on their own blogs in addition to tweeting about events and uploading videos of social unrest onto Youtube. Twitter and social media, aka forums where people can freely voice their opinion without worrying about being censored or gatekept, could potentially be blamed for destabilizing an entire region, simply by giving amateur people a voice.

Amateurs now have the power to have their voices heard as if they were professionals, not just through Twitter but also through blogs, Youtube and Facebook. Society no longer has an infatuation with the professional person and professional institution. Prior to our generation, in order to be successful, to have credibility or to have any influence, you had to be a professional. Technology is a major factor in this change. Zuniga’s example of this came with Wikipedia, which is the definition of a user based and user-maintained site.

“The encyclopedia uses the collective power of its massive community to produce and police the quality of the content rather than depending on a handful of ‘experts’. According to its own website, in early 2008, Wikipedia had 75,000 contributors working on 9 million articles in 250 languages.”

An amateur based encyclopedia is now considered to be a highly credible source of information, which is something that would have never happened prior to our generation and technology. The gate keeping concept of someone needing to be a professional to produce credible and professional quality material no longer exists. This really can be seen within the music industry. Artists are now completely aware of how they are being hustled by major labels, which has led them to bypass the process of recording and distributing through a label completely.

Zuniga speaks of a group called radiohead, who I am not quite familiar with, but they were very successful. After being Okie Doked by their label six times, they decided to record the album themselves in a home studio on relatively inexpensive, non “Professional” equipment. The group then proceeded to distribute the album strictly online in a digital form. They allowed fans to purchase the album for a price that they determined. On the average, fans paid between $5 and $8 dollars per album, and the album went platinum. The group made more money off of their single, digital, label-free album, than all six of their previous albums put together. Artists now can get themselves in the door and distribute their own music without the gate keeping of a record label or distributing company. Music fans will ultimate be the death of the major record label, simply because they will continue to buy their favorite artists regardless of the way the music is produced or distributed. This also comes as a result of technology. Digital media has unlocked the door for musicians to really turn a profit in the industry.

With blogs, amateur journalists managed to cause social change, and digital music artists were given the ability to actually turn a profit on their music. In addition, with Wikipedia, amateur people managed to create a credible encyclopedia. The removal of the gatekeeper in society has the potential to benefit us in many different ways. It also has the potential to make it harder for users and consumers to find the information they want, simply because now there is more information than ever out there for people to consume.