Stephanie Ly

Today, we are able to publish anything we want on to the Internet for the public. It is fast, easy, and convenient. We are able to attract a wide audience for barely any cost. It also removes the barrier between amateur and professionals, we are able to publish anything we want and the audience decides what they want to read or find as valuable. Shirky says people post things for the public because of two types of motivations, intrinsic and extrinsic. I believe that most people post or do things for intrinsic reasons more so than extrinsic. Like the story about the Korean boy band, DBSK, where they were able to gather young girls to protest. Those girls who went to protest did it through intrinsic motivations, to satisfy both their personal and social motivations, to be connected with the rest of the people; there were no extrinsic motivations involved. Similar to how people who create organizations and charities to help people/animal in need, they all do it to help out and for a good cause. Facebook is also a good example of intrinsic motivation. Everyone puts up his or her information for free. Therefore when the barriers are removed, people will automatically post and publish articles just for their own personal and social motives. However if an external motivation was involved, it can remove the likelihood of intrinsic motivations. I agree on this assumption because if people start paying people to do what they usually do for free and when they stop paying, people would be less likely to be doing it anymore for free. I believe that people become so accustomed to doing it for extrinsic reasons that doing it for free just wouldn’t give them the same satisfaction anymore. But either it is for intrinsic or extrinsic reason, the creation of publishing things onto the Internet has created a huge change in our society.

In today’s modern life, people are so accustomed to using the Internet and taking information for granted. We have been so use to these technologies that it has become ‘ordinary’ and we forget what it is like without it. In the book, “Here Comes Everybody,” in chapter 6, it reminds us how the Internet is a knowledgeable experience. It creates a global organization that is easier for group communications.

As the book mention about the Geoghan case back in 1960s, where the priest sexually abused more than a hundred boys, the response and results they got from people were temporary due to the lack of spreading the message and getting the words out. This reminds me of a case I had to research on for an art class back in 2010. A couple in England, Myra Hindley and Ian Brady back in 1960s, kidnapped, rapped, and killed children. This was known as the Moors murderer case. The case became so popular in England that the woman, Myra Hindley became the #1 most evil woman in Britain. But yet, no one else outside of Britain had heard about this case. If it wasn’t for the Internet, information like this couldn’t have been so widespread. Bringing back the Kony 2012 movement, the Internet and social media plays a huge part in getting people aware and active; otherwise no one would know what is happening in Uganda. It was not until 2002, when the Geoghan case and Porter case became widespread because the Globe finally started to publish their articles online.

The Internet created a society where spreading messages became effortless, removing all barriers and problems with locality. The exposure and distribution of information is so easy and instant, that we know what is happening from anywhere and anytime. I can’t be anymore grateful of the lifestyle that we all live in today, sending message doesn’t have to be one-to-one anymore, communicating with one another is much easier and flexible than ever before.

While reading “Here Comes Everybody,” Ivanna’s lost phone and how her friend Evan, uses social media and the communities to gather help reminds me of the Invisible Children. Invisible Children created a film and campaign called KONY 2012 to make Joseph Kony famous to raise support to arrest him. The film was about kids in Uganda who ran for their lives. They were scared of being abducted by the Rebels, also known as the LRA. The leader of the LRA is Joseph Kony. They would take children and force them to kill their own parents and made girls as sex slaves. Just like in the story when Ivanna loses her phone and makes a claim to the NYPD, which was not helpful to her, the government did not do anything to help stop the matter in Uganda. So like Evan, the Invisible Children took matters on to their own hand. The Invisible Children started a community on Facebook and is also trying to get celebrities and politicians to help spread Joseph Kony’s name and make him famous. What Evan and Invisible Children were able to do was not possible 5-10 years ago. Social media has changed so much that our world revolves around it. It helps increase visibility and for messages to spread. Social media gathers people together and allows us the simplest way to share works with other, creating a communally available resource.

Spread the words,

http://s3.amazonaws.com/kony2012/kony-4.html

We will change history!