Shirky’s Irky Scenarios
I found Shirky to be somewhat insightful but opinionated. His arguments that the submersion of something new into a culture comes with a kind of shock to the culture. That is a given I suppose–introduce something new and the people will not know exactly how to handle it. And also a given is that something that becomes so entrenched and engrained in our society becomes almost imperceptible. What Shirky irks me on is how he trashes lolcats. Not that I find any redeeming qualities in the website but it is the way Shirky addresses the site and its proponents. He sounds so elitist in his attitude towards the site. Yet he admits to his enjoyment of Gilligan’s Island and The Partidge Family on television. Mindless couch surfing is worse in my mind. The person enjoying lolcats is at least involved in what they are doing they are viewing and producing content which they deem to be enjoyable. They may be doing something that is not contributing anything beyond a quick laugh for society but they are active. What somebody does with their free time should not be a concern of his or anyone else. If I choose to spend every last second of my free time standing on the corner watching cars go by, then I am free to do so. Not every action must have a productive or life-enhancing effect. Ushahidi is a greeat thing for people to utilize but must we be pigeon-holed into thinking that all of our time spent must be meaningful. How much of your free time is spent in a meaningful manner? A great majority of it is spent idling. So get off of your high horse Shirky!
Interesting, Roman. Keep in mind that Shirky wrote this before internet memes entered the mainstream. He may not be quite as dismissive in his presentation of LOL Cats though he does understand the significance of that meme as meme even though he doesn’t use that exact language. He sees teh “communal value” in something like that even if, on the face of it, it may appear to trivial. Take a look at this talk where he reiterates some of the ideas in Cognitive Surplus where his tone seems a little different than in the book. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu7ZpWecIS8&feature=player_embedded#!
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One more issue is that video games are generally serious in nature with the key focus on studying rather than enjoyment. Although, there is an entertainment facet to keep children engaged, every game is generally designed to develop a specific set of skills or area, such as math concepts or science. Thanks for your publication.