Here Comes Everybody

The revolution will not be televised. It will be blogged, texted, videoed, downloaded, wikiied, file-shared, twittered, and emailed. Welcome to the new future of involvement.

Forming groups is easier than it has ever been. Unpaid volunteers can now build an encyclopaedia together in their spare time. Mistreated customers can join forces to seek justice against airlines and high street banks. Remarkably, one man with a laptop can raise an army to help recover a stolen phone. The barriers to coordinating and mobilising people have been significantly lowered.

The effects of this new era of effortless collaboration can be profoundly positive. For instance, young people defy oppressive governments with innovative guerrilla protests, such as mass ice-cream eating. However, this ease of connection can also lead to negative outcomes, such as the sharing of potentially harmful advice on how to stay dangerously underweight.

In Here Comes Everybody, Clay Shirky reveals the far-reaching consequences of these developments, demonstrating that for the first time, we truly have the tools to make group action a reality. This shift is affecting every aspect of our lives and, Shirky argues, it is poised to change our entire world.

Through compelling examples and insightful analyses, Shirky illustrates the unprecedented opportunities and challenges that come with this new social landscape. Whether it is in the realm of politics, business, or personal relationships, the capacity for collective action enabled by modern technology is reshaping the world as we know it.

Here Comes Everybody is an essential read for anyone interested in understanding how and why the internet is catalysing a new era of social transformation. Shirky’s observations are not only relevant but urgent, as they illuminate the path forward in an increasingly interconnected world.