Clay Shirky @ TED ON Social Media
Clay Shirky shows how Twitter, Facebook, SMS and other social media are demolishing the top-down control of news and information. His examples are political, but they ring true for music journalism and this video is a must see for anyone interested in social media. Quick takeaway: the majority of information sources are now driven by amateurs not professionals. Think about what that means…
The next time you need a little inspiration and out of the box thinking, spend some time watching videos from the TED conferences here.
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I came across this video a few weeks ago, its one of those massive eye openers. It lets you see things in a different perspective.
A great example of the Social 2.0 hype.
Just because media outlets are cutting staff and having their interns curate content from Facebook and Twitter, does that mean the media is now “driven by” amateurs? Only an amateur would think that. It’s still professional, well-connected gatekeepers making the decisions about WHAT GETS COVERAGE.
Sure, they’ll let anyone talk about Micheal Jackson’s funeral. That’s great. They’re not about to start covering the testimony of Sibel Edmonds. There’s still an agenda at the top, and the stories that get chosen for the spotlight will reflect that agenda.
The media is just as centralized and monopolized as ever, and only a white guy from Yale would pretend all that’s changed just because CNN re-decorated.
Technically, what Shirky says is true: “As recently as last decade, most of the media that was available for public consumption was produced by professionals. Those days are over, never to return.” But re-read the quote carefully: he says only that most media _available_ is now produced by amateurs. This is like saying “most music today is produced by amateurs.” Undeniably true, but so what? The relevant measure is what is consumed, not what is produced. And let’s be very clear: by this true measure, professional broadcast (what Shirky calls “one to many”) still dominates in both news and entertainment. Justin Borland is exactly right: “The media is just as centralized and monopolized as ever.”