joejoh's review against another edition
3.0
While I preferred "Here Comes Everybody", this book was interesting as well. It's basically an examination of how people use online tools to change the world. The book tends to feel Polyannaish and I don't think Shirky went nearly deep enough in his examination on how tools like Facebook and Twitter can be used for evil. I also think that LOLCats is a rather trivial example of group collaboration(Shirky admits this), so why bother with it at all. I'd liked to have seen discussion of 4chan, anonymous and other places/personas on the Internet that don't always work as a force for good. Shirky is obviously pro-sharing, and pro amateur production without really discussing the filter failure this creates and how we might deal with it, whether it be by curation or algorithm. Clearly, Shirky set out to prove or at least suggest a positive use for online tools, but ignoring the less than savory uses doesn't make them go away, nor does it give users an adequate picture of how online tools really work.
ladyhd's review against another edition
4.0
This was a truly interesting book. I hope to take some of the insights garnered from this volume and apply then to my community organizing going forward. I'd recommend to those with interests in social media, commity engagement, and involved citizenry.
jacalata's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting book, probably need to re-read it in a few weeks to absorb it properly. The quote I took away: "Society is shaped by inconvenience and the assumptions that rise up around inconvenience are seen as reality."
pldean's review against another edition
3.0
This is an interesting look at the changes and possibilities inherent in our connected age. Shirky is especially good when discussing the value created at what he divides into four levels of newly-possible (thanks to technology) interaction: personal, communal, public, and civic. He hopes that the cognitive surplus created by modern life -- our extra time, energy, and intellect -- will be spent at least in part at the civic level, enhancing life for all. However, the book is much more descriptive than proscriptive, and Shirky, as one the leading thinkers about the internet and its applications, is skillful at that.
daynpitseleh's review against another edition
2.0
I really enjoyed this book at first, but as I got farther into the book, it seemed slow and lacking in content.
microglyphics's review against another edition
2.0
I am not going to finish this one. Whilst I agree with the author that there may be a cognitive surplus owing to cultural distractions such as television, the narrative is rambling, and the connected digital world is no panacea.
tmaluck's review against another edition
3.0
2015 may be a bit too late for someone my age to read a book about how people are banding together on the internet toward productive ends. It's a neat collection of articles, and I like Shirky's analysis that places it all in context and tries to encapsulate the bigger ideas and vocabulary.
bisthesu's review against another edition
3.0
Shirky describes the economic changes swirling around us as people have disposable free time and an unprecedented ability to create, combining to form a massive potential. Wikipedia is a drop in the bucket compared to what could be done if people reduced the time they watch TV and instead spend it on a massively collaborative project (akin to but different than Wikipedia).
It is informative and pushes you to think about our economy and how media is evolving into something more than we once understood it to be. The collective power we hold as a group of separate individuals is truly staggering. As the ability to combine forces is refined it has the potential to change how we go about our lives. The possibilities of what could be possible are mind blowing.