Should Everybody write??

Well, as is stated in this article, everybody is already writing. This doesn’t mean that everyone is writing books, or scholarly articles, but everyone is writing things down.

Facebook and Twitter allow people to post their thoughts in short snippets, whereas people use blogs when they have something more to say. With everything that is online, there is no way that one person could read it all, but because everyone is a writer, there is a variety of stuff out there to read. Whatever you are interested in there is probably people blogging about it.

With the ability for everyone to be able to write, we see the way of writing shifting. You don’t have to have an editor to get things published, you just hit post. Also, we don’t see a lot of long articles online. Writers cater to what readers look at which is a couple sentences, more if they are interested. I think we see a lot of short writings online because that’s what people have time to read or care to read.

As long as the internet keeps booming, I’m sure people will continue to write. I think the shift is in the technologies they are writing on. First we saw pen and paper shift to computers, but the next shift it seems will be going from writing on your computers to writing with your cell phone or smaller portable computers (netbooks/iPads).

Wide Web of Diversions.

I found the article explaining how laptops have been ban from some classrooms very interesting. It made me think of how I use my laptop in class, and what I've seen others doing. Overall, I think it's a hard choice for teachers choose whether they want students using laptops or not. There are plenty of advantages to having the technology. If something is brought up in class, I find myself looking it up online, and I've noticed other people do this too. Also, for me personally, I can type faster than I can write things out by hand. So if I need to take a lot of notes I would rather be able to use my computer. Another thing is when the teacher is going through a power point presentation or pulling from articles they have listed online, it is useful for me to be able to pull those things up on my own computer, just as I've been doing the last few days of class.

I can understand though, why teachers would be opposed to having laptops in their classrooms. It causes a major distraction. It seems inevitable that students are going to look at something that is not relevant to class, such as Facebook, e-mail, YouTube, checking up on the scores of a sports game, or even doing homework for other classes. On occasion, I have felt that I was being very distracted by having a laptop, or by someone near me having one. I find that when someone near me or in front of me has a laptop and is jumping from site to site, I am drawn to it and my attention is no longer on the class discussion.

As far as ever reaching an overall consensus as to whether computers are more useful in or out of the classroom, I think the jury is still out. It can be either good or bad, and without teachers constantly walking around the room and peering over the shoulder of every student, I think they will continue to be sometimes distracted from class. Laptops in classroom can be a benefit or distraction; it just depends on how the student chooses to use it.

The end of Shirky

Throughout chapter ten, Shirky talks a lot about free failure and its advantages. I find there are lots of advantages of being able to fail on the internet. If you set up an online business, for instance, and it doesn’t take off as planned, what are you really losing? The few dollars you spend on your webhosting plan? On the other hand, if you tried it in a physical space, you would go through the process of renting out a space or buying a space where your business will be. You would also have physically go to that space when your business is open. And if you failed, you would have done a bunch of things and spent a lot of money for nothing. Through failing online, you can learn a lot about what to do the next time around without losing as much as you would with physical failure.

In chapter eleven, Shirky discusses the three rules of social networking, these being the promise, the tool, and the bargain. So, let’s look at Twitter. What’s the Promise there? Share and discover what’s happening right now, anywhere in the world. This is a promise that catches people’s attention and interests them. Who doesn’t want to know what’s happening all over the world? Next, the Tool. Well, there is not just one. You can use this service on your computer or you can tweet with your cell phone. This allows you to post the latest news as it is happening. Last, the Bargain, what do you expect and what do they expect of you. With Twitter, you are expecting to be able to look at other people’s tweets and follow whoever you want to, while in return, you will get followers of your own. I am not a Twitter user, so I don’t know if you can block people from following you or not, but if not, that’s part of the bargain. You may get followers that you don’t know, but you can also follow people that you don’t know personally. Celebrities for example. When all three of these rules, the promise, the tool, and the bargain, work together that a social networking site succeeds.

Shirky 7-9

In the third part of the book, (chapters 7-9), Shirky talked about transparency. We discussed this issue quite a bit in class and brought up the example of libraries. Because of the way technology is changing, companies such as libraries are having to change the way they do business. We no longer physically go to the library as often, but instead we go online to find sources or check out books. These book then get sent to us in the mail. This type of thing is happening with all kinds of businesses. One that comes to my mind is the bank. People c an set up direct deposit for their paychecks, have bills come right out of their account, and with ATM’s in most every businesses, they no longer have to go to the bank if they need to get cash out. Although, like libraries, we are no longer having to physically go to the bank for all our financial needs, the bank is still working behind the scenes, so to speak, managing your accounts.

Shirky also talks about how connected we are, and what a small world we live in. Social networking sites are making it easy to find friends of friends and be more connected. These sites suggest friends to you, based on mutual friends. It’s like we don’t even have to work at finding friends. They are given right to us. On several occasions, I have been on vacation and met someone else from the same town as me, even though I’m clear across the country. It is quite astonishing! It just goes to show that it is quite a small world after all..