The Social Implications of New Technology + Audio Podcasting

The rise of "user-generated content" has given strength to the idea of "publish then filter" that Shirky writes about. Social outlets like blogs, Flickr, and Youtube serve as re-creative tools that spread user-generated content. With the help of these tools, anyone can share anything and this creates an endless amount of "public" content.

The term public in Web 2.0 is a rather complicated idea. Once something is posted on the internet, there is the assumption that it is for everyone to see and is addressing everyone. What Shirky argues is that much of user-generated content is, in fact, not speaking to a general audience. User-generated content can be seen as not being content at all in this case, and "those of us who grew up with a strong separation between communication and broadcast media" may find the idea of public content being not so public hard to accept. Prior to user-generated content, everything that was made public was filtered before being published. Therefore, if something was published, it was meant for the world to see. With the the advent of new social technologies such as blogs, something that is published is not always relevant to everyone.

Every blog starts off small but has the potential to grow. What motivates people to blog is not just the relationships they form with fellow bloggers but also the desire to perhaps gain a bigger audience. Of course, there are people who merely blog for leisure, but something as simple as a blog can go a long way. In the discipline of design, starting a blog can be a helpful way to promote the designer and his/her work. The audience will start small but with time and commitment, more and more readers will join the audience.