Am I the only person not to finish Here Comes Everybody?

This may be somewhat controversial, but I can't bring myself to finish Clay Shirky's Here Comes Everybody.

It may be this year's bestseller, but I am struggling to find anything new or ground-breaking between the covers. Admittedly, there are a couple of anecdotes or examples I find interesting enough to dog-ear the page, but the number of dog-eared pages is low.

As I've read the book some ideas I can't help but feel I've read before. The chapter 'Sharing Anchors Community' has some dog-earring but both David Weinberger and Yochai Benkler have covered off the Internet's challenges to institutional ecology from a more social and economic perspective.

Likewise, in the chapter Publish, then Filter, Shirky explores the idea that with massively decreased production and storage costs (specifically, the cost of publishing content via blogs) the Internet changes the media model whereby barriers to creating content disappear giving everybody (from the book's title?) a chance to compete with hitherto professional creators/publishers etc.

I admit I'm simplifying here, but the idea the Internet is re-shaping human knowledge and the ways in which we interpret the world around us based on the growing digital (dis)order is explored in much more depth in Weinberger's Everything is Miscellaneous. See my review for a bit more about this.

Writing about the book in response to Felix Stalder's review in Mute magazine, I suggested that HCE is a business book, rather than a study in digital sociology or emerging digital economics.

A colleague suggested that idea to me independently when he remarked that "like all business books, it could have pruned to about five pages."

I have to agree. There's a lot of homely anecdotes which frankly I just find are filler. And that's why I've given up two-thirds of the way through.

 What do others think? Am I being too unforgiving?

Technorati tags: Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody, business books

Comments

[Ethan Bauley]

As someone with a well-worn copy of "The Wealth of Networks", I agree that few can compete with Benkler, but I'm sure Shirky could if that was his intention. I skimmed some of HCE but it looked more "Tipping Point" than "Theory of the Firm" so I haven't given it a chance. But contextually, it seems like that result was intentional ;-)

Still, there's no doubt that Shirky is brilliant and his blog posts (esp the ~2002 one on Power Laws) are essential.

I just picked up a book about social capital called "Brokerage and Closure" by Ronald Burt that I'm looking forward to investigating.

Thanks for the great links...

[Tom Murphy]

Simon,

YES! I too bought Clay's book with great expectations. I've read a lot of Clay's work online, I've been impressed watching videos of him online and the book is pants :-)

Reading it I could feel my hackles rising. He takes an exception (the whole mobile phone story) and builds an argument that it is indicative of the fundamental change in the way we live. Please.

I found the entire book - which I ended up skimming - facile. It seems that "debate" on the online environment is following the lead of polarised US politics. You take the facts and build them any way you want...

It's rather annoying. IMHO

Now they're claiming new media was behind the Brand/Ross episode - more rubbish.

TM

[Simon Collister]

Hi Ethan - thanks for stopping by. I suspect you're right re. The Tipping Point comparison. It's almost as if HCE doesn't do Shirky justice. You rightly point out a lot of the chapters seem based on earlier (some much earlier) blog posts.

Tom - Glad to know it isn't just me and that I'm in good company! I also agree re. building an argument out of the facts of one instance. For example, the VOTF case study was held to be the first time a social movement became built out of the connectedness of the Internet. No other possibilities (or indeed whether it was *the first time*) were considered or even explored to explain the phenomenon.

Accepting dubious or unsubstantiated argumetns as normative is potentially dangerous territory.

[Alex]

I hear you. I got 50% through. Just wasn't doing it for me for same reasons as you outline. It also didn't have any of the practical utility something like Groundswell (e.g.) has.