Clay made my day!

   So after a strenuous week of work I had decided that I was going to do my readings and relax on Sunday. So, I grabbed my cup of coffee, laid back on my couch, and began to read the first four chapters of Clay Shirky's book "Here Comes Everybody". As soon as I began reading I couldn't put the book down. The book is written in such an engaging way, that it made me think of Dr. Dennen's analogy of the book as a "color commentary, to suck you in" and it did. "When we change the way we communicate, we change society" (Shirky 7). That sentence has been ringing in my ears the whole day, as I have reflected on how much bearing that statement holds in regards to our present day world and the effect Web 2.0 technologies have had on it in just the past couple of years.
   "Our electronic networks are enabling novel forms of collective action, enabling the creation of collaborative groups that are larger and more distributed than at any other time in history" (Shirky 48). This means that we are living in great historic times of change and innovation in the make up of our society and as to how our society communicates and accomplishes tasks. I don't know if I had drank too much coffee but as I continued to read I got the jitters at the thought of just how much information and power is found on the internet and the reality that it is virtually available to everyone and anyone.
   The realization that "once a user connects to the internet, he has access to a platform that is at one global and free" (Shirky 77) was thrilling and inspiring at the same time. Relatively unimportant events become important events with enough of a following on the internet, which is pretty incredible to say the least. Reading the first four chapters of this book definitely sparked more curiosity for the remainder of this course and in the class readings.