The Internet: A Tool to Gather the World's Power - Book Posting

I never closely thought about the power of the internet, but after reading Clay Shirky's book, Here Comes Everybody, I feel like the internet is both powerful and unpredictable. It is powerful in that it is easy for everyone to access, so whatever is posted there can reach people easily. However, it is unpredictable because it does not guarantee a certain reaction from people who read what is on the internet. An example of this is listed in chapter one of Here Comes Everybody when several readers banded together to help Ivanna recover her Sidekick. This experience was powerful in that several people came together to accomplish a single goal. If they had not, she probably never would have recovered it. It is also unpredictable because there are many instances like this situation, but they are not always picked up by readers. It may depend on the timing, the people involved, or some other factor. 

Another example would be in chapter 5 of Here Comes Everybody, it describes Wikipedia and how it became a success versus its predecessor Nupedia. Both are online encyclopedias, but Wikipedia allows users to contribute to what is listed on it. However, out of everyone who uses Wikipedia only two percent probably contribute to the postings on it. That two percent must make a difference to turn Wikipedia into a worldwide phenomenon. Who knows though? Maybe there is some other unknown factor that attracts the attention of the world population to use Wikipedia as an online source of knowledge.

As I think about it further, I guess it is not the internet that is the power. The world's population is the power, and the internet is a tool to group that power together in unpredictable ways.