TED Talk- Clay Shirky

Cognitive surplus is what we, as humans, contribute to the Internet in our spare time. Clay Shirky brought up this idea in his TED talk. He said that Americans watch around 200 billion hours of television each year. This is a lot of free time. Many Americans now, however, are using their spare time to contribute to the Internet. They are not only “consuming” what is offered in the Internet, but now humans are contributing. We are contributing things like blogs, videos, and information. Any comment, rating, or contribution we put out on the Internet, builds to the cognitive surplus. Although all of these contributions may not be great work,(Shirky exampled LOLcats as unimportant), it is still a contribution. More important sites, like Ushahidi, aid the overall welling-being of the world. Americans are spending more of their free time contributing to something for self- satisfaction, no reward.

This was a great TED talk, however, I feel like Mr. Shirky could have done a better job helping the audience understand his point. After the video I found myself confused; I had to do further research on cognitive surplus and watch the video again in order to understand the whole idea.  I did like how Shirky related cognitive surplus to past inventions, like the printing press, however. These relations did help me develop a better understanding. Shirky also made sure to connect with the audience through eye contact, arm movements, and also had pictures to back up his information and example what he was talking about. Some of these pictures were a technique of side-humor Shirky used to transition to new points during his talk.

Before Internet, humans were just consumers. The web has opened a whole new door for people to share and create. Today, the Internet is almost essential. A massive amount of knowledge from all over the world can be shared. Anyone, from anywhere can contribute, and most people contributing are not doing it as a job.  Clay Shirky’s talk related so much to what Daniel Pink is talking about in Drive. Pink is saying that people are no longer motivated by the carrots and sticks technique. Both talked about how we are driven by intrinsic motivation. In Clay’s talk, people are motivated purely by intrinsic motivation when they contribute things to the Internet during free time. These contributions are just fueled by the joy of doing the task. Americans are being less of consumers in this era, and more of engagers. When I was researching what cognitive surplus was, I came across an interview between Daniel Pink and Clay Shirky. This was very interesting because they agreed on so many ideas. Both agree on Pink’s carrots and sticks theory and agree that the Internet just examples this more. Today, it is very rare to come across someone who has never contributed to the Internet. Whether it is through a blog, posting information, or even commenting or rating a video on Youtube, almost everyone old enough to contribute, has. Even a Facebook profile helps distribute information for others to find. 20 years ago, there was not half as much information online as there is now. Overtime, the wealth of knowledge just started to grow. The web has become the biggest source of knowledge to so many people around the world. We can find blogs about anything from fashion to someone’s trip to China. Tavi Gevinson, a famous teen fashion blogger, began her blog at only age 11. Now, Tavi has been in numerous magazines and is looked to for style advice around the world. Anyone can contribute to the web. Whether it be a wolrd changing database or fml.com.  Like Shirky said, “The stupidest possible creative act is still a creative act.”

Works Cited:

"Clay Shirky: How Cognitive Surplus Will Change the World | Video on TED.com." TED: Ideas worth Spreading. Web. 23 Apr. 2011. <http://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_how_cognitive_surplus_will_change_the_world.html>.

Gevinson, Tavi. Style Rookie. Web. 23 Apr. 2011. <http://www.thestylerookie.com/>.

Magazine, Wired. "Cognitive Surplus: The Great Spare-Time Revolution | Magazine." Wired.com. Web. 23 Apr. 2011. <http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/05/ff_pink_shirky/>.

Ushahidi :: Home. Web. 23 Apr. 2011. <http://www.ushahidi.com/>.

Wiseman, Eva. "Tavi Gevinson: the 13-year-old Blogger with the Fashion World at Her Feet | Life and Style | The Observer." Latest News, Comment and Reviews from the Guardian | Guardian.co.uk. Web. 23 Apr. 2011. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/sep/20/tavi-gevinson-new-york-fashion>.