http://machinist.salon.com/feature/2008/03/07/clay_shirkey_interview/

The recent increase of the Internet’s ability to create global, ad hoc groups that can amass enormous influence over social, political, and economic institutions signals a significant shift in the power of the medium and, more broadly, all media. This is the argument of Clay Shriky’s new book, “Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations.” Shirky asserts that the Internet is not simply an extension of the classical media forms of radio, television, and newspaper; it is actually a challenge to many societal pillars that have been “stable over a period of in some cases hundreds of years.”

This dramatic shift in power and influence in such a short time span has led to “the largest expansion in expressive capability in the history of the human race.” This relates to the social exchange theory and the notion of power positions within networks. While the Internet has created opportunities for individuals to rise in prominence and power (whether through blogs, YouTube, Facebook) the more fascinating result is the amazing rise in influence of ad hoc groups of people organizing over the Internet.

Through the collective power of online, social groups, incredible results can be achieved – results almost impossible two decades ago. Whether their cause is political, social, or moral (for instance Anonymous’ attacks on Scientology), these groups undoubtedly wield a power never before seen in our society. For example, to create change through the political process before the creation of these ad hoc groups, citizens had to contact their local representatives. This relates to our class in the following way: these representatives held the power in the relationship – they had greater access to information and were the gatekeepers to the higher end of the political chain; they were the middlemen between the public and the lawmakers. Now, while the traditional option is still available, the power has shifted to the public and it can create change directly. No longer do citizens have to deal with the hierarchical network in place for hundreds of years. They can inexpensively organize among themselves and get the message out to millions of people; effectively bypassing the gatekeepers and creating edges to millions of people they would not have traditionally have access to.

The article cites the Coalition for an Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights as an example of this process in action. This coalition is simply a group of passengers who have experienced terrible delays and very poor treatment during agonizing hours on the tarmac. Through group action on the Internet (http://strandedpassengers.blogspot.com/) they have made strides that have shocked the airline industry and are on their way to pushing the bill into law. In addition, ad hoc, online groups have utilized their unparalleled power to stir up interest for their specific candidate of choice in the current 2008 Presidential Campaign. These groups have ushered in a new era of democracy for America – every person is capable of freely expressing themselves and organizing with others to advocate for change.