Shirky Summary

In this video Shirky talks about how the media landscape has changed over the years from the printing press to the internet.  He explains how through this people have become more connected, and how people are becoming producers, as well as the consumers of media and information.  He also talks about the earthquake in China, and how the citizens of China were broadcasting it through social media as it was happening.  This shows how connected people have become, because he also talks about how a few years earlier when China had a bad earthquake, it took them 3 months to admit it happened.  So this shows how people have become more connected, and how technology and advancements in communication have given the ordinary people of the world a voice, and an outlet to speak.  He goes on to talk about how the Obama campaign used social media, and how imaginative they were in doing so.  He talked about how Obama used his website to inform his followers that he was voting a different way on a bill, which upset them, but he let them know that he understands where his followers were coming from, and he was going to take his lumps on this one.  But in the end his followers were happy with him for not shutting them down for voicing their opinion.