Sep 19 2010
Framing Questions: Week 3
Chapter 4 of Here Comes Everybody, “Publish, Then Filter,” really struck a cord with me because the topic of amateurization is one that is constantly debated among journalists. Shirky even poses the question: “Surely it is as bad to gorge as it is to starve?” He seems to paint user-generated content in a negative light. Granted, it is important to learn how to filter through the “junk,” but aren’t those hidden treasures among the user-generated content the very things that we celebrate about Web 2.0? Without the concept of audience participation, wouldn’t we lose vital pseudo-journalistic content? (I’m thinking of photos that are instantly Tweeted from the scene of breaking news, where perhaps journalists and other news media have not yet arrived, etc. This content is certainly published before it’s filtered, but isn’t the sense of timeliness and contribution for the sake of conversation the whole point?) On a similar note, how can the average Internet user learn to become efficient filters of the mounds of conversation found in communications media?