Translating from journalism to advertising

This week's readings were all about the uses of online technology--blogs, websites, RSS feeds, etc.--in the field of mass communications.  An interesting point that I have noticed in these readings, as well as readings for other classes, is that in many texts for mass communications classes, the emphasis is usually put on the career of journalism. As a student of advertising, this adds another element to my analysis of these readings.  Not only must i consider the ideas presented in the text, but I must also translate these ideas into a format more suitable for advertising, and I have tried to do this as well as I could for this week's post.

Here Comes Everybody

In Clay Shirky's book, Here Comes Everybody, he shows how the connection between different types of online social tools such as blogging, file sharing, etc. are used together for improved group interaction in a way that could never have been achieved before these technologies existed. Shirky's opening case about the stolen/lost cell phone is an extreme, yet incredibly vivid example of the power that these online social tools have when it comes to organizing group conversation and even action.

This first example that Shirky gives is quite interesting to me. Not only because I had not heard of it before, but also because of his presentation of how none of it would have been possible just years before it happened. Until very recently, only very wealthy people or institutions had the means to reach an audience of millions or even thousands.If something of value were lost by someone just ten or fifteen years ago, it would be highly unlikely that they would be able to get it back at all, let alone in a manner as dramatic as Shirky's example. However, with the convergence of different online social tools that are available to many people, not to mention at a much more affordable price, it was possible to recover the stolen phone.