Literature and Media

In Chapter 6 of Cognitive Surplus Shirky presents what I think is one of the most thaught provoking arguments in the text in his discussion of how the internet has affected civic engagement.  Shirky from my interpretation seems to take the position that the internet by dramatically reducing the costs and limitations of communication has made possible large scale and highly coordinated acts of creation that were previously impossible; and further that this new opportunity is likely to be the impetus for a level of civic engagement and participation previously not seen.  Certainly, it would be hard to find fault with Shirky's assertion that the internet has dramatically altered our ability to communicate with eachother and to form groups.  The internet allows information and ideas to be exchanged almost instananeously across vast geographic regions and to a nearly infinite number of users.  It is unarguable that the scope and scale of group coordination and participation that the internet allows is far beyond what could be achieved without this technology.  Although, I agree with Shirky's assertion that the internet has made possible a new way of communicating, I don't believe that it follows that this interaction is likely to create a more participatory and civicly engaged public.  Shirky describes a hierarchy of group communication in terms of their value of society from personal on the lowest end to communal to public to civic as the most valuable.  Shirky suggests that under the right constaints and given the right motivations groups will work to pursue a goal which is both of value to their creators as well as to society as a whole.  Although the internet has created new opportunities for such groups, I don't see how a more effective means of communication would cause people to be inherently more altruistic or more likely to work towards a group goal rather than pursuing their own interests.  Opportunities for civic engagement and for groups to cooperate to achieve a societal goal aren't a new phenomenon brought about by the internet.  Ghandi organized thousands in India to march to the coasts as an act of civic protest without the aid of technology and numerous other examples exists of large scale civic participation before the dawn of the digital age.  People work toward a goal and work together if they have sufficient motivation to do so, not simply because they can.

The point that I'm trying to get at is that I don't believe that the internet has fundamentally affected human nature or why we do things.  For each example Shirky gives of a way in which the internet has benefited society through increased communication and connectedness there seems to be an equal opportunity for harm dependaning on the motivations of internet users.  Shirky describes the experience of two women who used a site called Couchsurfing.com to organize a safe though unconvential vacation.  Shirky argues that features such as rating systems on websites allow for greater security against malicious or illegal actions between users of these sites.  I would argue that the annonimity that the internet allows significantly decreases the effectiveness of this deterent and probably offsets any of the security benefity Shirky suggests.  The craigslist killer is a grim example of how technology can facilitate crime as easily as it can facilitate commerece and communication.  I also found the example of "Pub-going, loose, and forward" unconvincing in demonstrating how the internet has increased civic engagement for the better.  While the actions of the group mentioned indeed represent truly positive civic engagement there are probably at least as many examples of the interent being used to organize and promote things like hate groups or radical fundamentalist groups.  I agree with Shirky that the internet has changed the way we communicate and has given us the ability to connect with other people with virtually no distance cost.  Where I differ with Shirky's assesment is that I don't believe our increased ability to cooperate to achieve a civic goal translates to an increased motivation for individuals to pursue societally benefical goals over their own self-interest.