Summary
Highlights
The speaker introduces the topic of the transformed media landscape and its implications for sharing messages globally. He uses the example of a presidential election where citizens used their phones to document polling places, creating a 'video the vote' initiative. This highlights how accessible technology fosters 'social capital' and enables widespread innovation as media becomes increasingly social.
The speaker claims that the current era represents the largest increase in expressive capability in human history. He traces media revolutions over the past 500 years, including the printing press, two-way communication (telegraph, telephone), recorded media (photos, sound, movies), and broadcast media (radio, television). He points out the asymmetry of 20th-century media: conversation tools weren't group-friendly, and group tools weren't conversational. The internet, however, is the first medium to natively support both groups and conversation, shifting from one-to-one or one-to-many to a many-to-many pattern.
The internet's second major change is its role as a universal carrier for all other media, digitizing and bringing everything together. This makes media less about information distribution and more about coordination, as groups can gather and discuss content. The third significant shift is the rise of the 'prosumer' – former audience members who can now also be producers, thanks to multi-functional devices like phones and computers. This fundamentally alters the media landscape, as every new consumer is also a potential producer.
The speaker recounts the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in China, illustrating how citizens immediately reported the event via text, photos, and videos uploaded to platforms like QQ and Twitter. This allowed news to spread globally before official reports, demonstrating citizen media's speed and reach. The ensuing public outrage over corrupt building practices led to citizen protests, which the Chinese government initially allowed but later cracked down on, as traditional censorship methods like the 'Great Firewall' proved ineffective against distributed, amateur-produced content.
The transformation of the media landscape impacts not only censors but also those trying to send messages. The 20th-century model of expensive, sparse, professional-produced, one-way communication is obsolete. Media is now global, social, ubiquitous, and cheap. While organizations have adapted to an audience that can talk back, the more radical change is the direct communication between former consumers, who are now producers. This increases network complexity and shifts the balance from professional to amateur-produced media.
The speaker highlights the Obama campaign's innovative use of social media, particularly 'mybarackobama.com,' which facilitated massive citizen participation. He recounts an instance where Obama's change of stance on the FISA bill led to public outcry and the creation of a dissenting group on his own site. Crucially, the campaign did not shut down this group, demonstrating the discipline required to convene rather than control supporters. This maturity in using social media reflects the new reality where the media environment facilitates group formation and support, rather than just message broadcasting.