Here Comes Everybody starts off with a story of a stolen sidekick and how a group formed via commonly available social networking tools tracked down the thief, changed the NYPD’s approach to the problem, and subsequently got the property returned.
I remember when that particular story broke, and I remember visiting the site set-up to handle the hoopla. At the time, I couldn’t tell you why it had a larger significance. That’s what Clay Shirky does so well.
The upshot? The convenience of ubiquitous tools and the will to form spur-of-the-moment communities has changed society. Where we go from here and how we deal with the fall-out of new freedoms and shaken institutions is unclear, but the challenge is before us.
My biggest complaints about the book? That I lived through most of the examples and used most of the services that he wrote about, but didn’t get a book deal out of it. That, and it’s not written for me. I already know this stuff so I found it a little boring.
It’s a thoughtful observation on our changing times, and I recommend it if you’ve been completely unaware of recent shifts on the Internet. However, if you don’t want to buy the book (or borrow it from me), you can get a good deal of it from his presentation here.
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