Shirky shares some very succinct and really illuminating views on how the Internet is advancing collaboration in a number of different arenas. I especially appreciate his use of some colorful anecdotes to dramatize the concepts.
This discussion sheds some light on aspects of Internet marketing that transcend sales: namely, "social marketing." Shirky discusses how communications technology is supporting collective action, including cause advocacy, politics, and in some cases, efforts by consumers to protect their interests in the face of threatened infringement by corporations upon their privacy or their contractual rights.
Shirky elucidates a whole historical trajectory of technological advancement, culminating in current Web 2.0 innovations, as a means to facilitate free and open expression -- and he ties it together into a moving and sharp commentary on our society. Ultimately, he poses a question that is worth really mulling over, especially for the entrepreneurs among us: if institutions have largely taken shape over time to cope with "the difficulty of managing information," how will a sea change in the way we manage information ultimately force a dramatic change upon the institutions in our society? What are the implications for our leadership, our businesses, and our educational system?
... and if that interests you, and doesn't completely blow your mind, see his 2005 talk on the challenges that new media will pose to institutions (corporate and government), which has already proven to be quite visionary.
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