It is possible to think that the Internet will be a net positive for society while admitting that there are significant downsides - after all, it's not a revolution if nobody loses. Clay Shirky admitdownsideinternet Change image and share on social
The whole, 'Is the Internet a good thing or a bad thing'? We're done with that. It's just a thing. How to maximise its civic value, its public good - that's the really big challenge. Clay Shirky badbigchallenge Change image and share on social
Facebook is not very good at dealing with named groups; they're not very good at saying, 'We've got this book club and I'm a member and you're not.' But membership is one of the precursors to a lot of social action. Clay Shirky actionbookclub share on social
One of the problems with any kind of talking about the media landscape is that we've just been through an unusually stable period in which, for fifty years, English language media was centered in three cities - London, New York, and Los Angeles - around a very stable group of people working in a relatively stable set of media. Clay Shirky angelescentercity share on social
There is a giant gulf between doing something and doing nothing. And someone who makes a lolcat and uploads it - even if only to crack their friends up - has already crossed that chasm to doing something. That's the sea change, and you can see it even with the cute cats. Clay Shirky catchangechasm share on social
I certainly never intended for myself an academic career and, were the academy to suffer, I'd just go do something else. I don't have a commitment to it or to really, frankly, almost any institution that assumes that it has to be stable forever. Clay Shirky academicacademyassume share on social
I am not somebody who believes everyone is equally talented; talent remains unequally distributed. Clay Shirky believedistributeequally Change image and share on social
The difference between what all the people can do individually and the global consumption of nonrenewable resources is huge. The tension is... what will it take to get people to act in concert? There isn't any additive solution to the problem. It will be both governmental and social because that's the scale of the problem. Clay Shirky actadditiveconcert share on social
Algorithms don't do a good job of detecting their own flaws. Clay Shirky algorithmdetectflaw Change image and share on social
More interesting than thinking about what's possible in 10 years is thinking what's possible now but that no one has built. Clay Shirky buildinterestthink Change image and share on social