Initial Thoughts on Reading

So, I started reading "Here Comes Everybody" by Clay Shirky. I don't know why, exactly, I chose this book instead of the others available. I just enjoyed the Amazon synopsis, I suppose. The cover is fun as well.

So, I think I have read about 40 pages or so. Mr. Shirky has so far just discussed different social theories and how amazing their implications are for our society. He set aside a solid 30 pages for a story about this woman who lost her cell phone in a NYC taxi cab. She relayed the misfortune to her friend, who happened to have a rather popular blog. This friend advertised a reward for information leading to the recovery of the phone (the phone had a lot of information for the owner's upcoming wedding).

Soon the ad hoc sleuths discovered who had the phone by accessing the phone's photos (the new owner had already taken a bunch of photos) and email address via the cell phone service's website. After this discovery, the owners friend asked to have the phone back only to be threatened with violence and given a false address. He then alerted all of his blog's viewers to the identity of the new owner (who had received the phone from her brother) and told them the story. Soon the story had thousands of followers all across the country and helped the owner file a theft report with the NYPD. Soon the police resolved the incident by retrieving the phone and arresting the girl who had refused to return it.

This story simply goes to show how powerful of a tool the web is. A regular man was able to gather support from thousands of people all across the nation and even in different countries by simply putting his story out on an available medium (for free). Even five years ago something such as this would be impossible unless the story found its way to a national newspaper (which it actually did, due to its extreme publicity on the web).

That's all for now.