Here, Clay Shirkey discusses the transformed media landscape, and what it means to anybody who has a message they want to get out, to anywhere in the world.
Media has become increasingly “social” and we’re increasingly realizing that we’re all in this together. The generation we’re now in, has the largest expressive capability in human history.
There have only been four periods in the last 500 years where media changed enough that could be considered truly revolutionary:
- The printing press, which made mass printing possible
- Real-time, two-way communication: first the telegraph, then the telephone
- Recorded media, other than print: first photos, followed by recorded sound and movies
- Radio and television
However, the media that was good at creating conversations was not good at creating groups, and the media that was good at creating social groups was not good at creating conversations…
That has all changed and those limitations no longer exist.
The Internet is the first media in history that has native support for groups and conversation at the same time.
The second major change is that as all media gets digitized, the Internet also becomes the mode of carriage for ALL other media.
The third major change is that former members of the audience can now also be producers, and not just consumers.